Pregnant women with COVID-19 require immediate medical attention: ICMR study

COVID-19 in pregnant women: COVID-19 virus can infect a higher proportion of pregnant women and the infected women need immediate medical attention, stated a study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). This is the first study by the ICMR on the adverse outcomes of COVID-19 infection in pregnant women. ICMR conducted the study in collaboration with other government institutes and hospitals on pregnant women in Maharashtra.

The study is the first large-scale report of systematically collected, multi-center data on the clinical presentation, pregnancy outcomes, and maternal deaths among women with COVID-19 in Maharashtra, India.

How was the data on pregnant women with COVID-19 collected?

The data is based on the PregCovid registry. The registry collects real-time information on pregnant and post-partum women with laboratory confirmation of COVID-19 from 19 medical colleges across the state of Maharashtra.

The proportion of symptomatic COVID-19 women in the study by ICMR was 12.7 per cent.

ICMR study on pregnant women with COVID-19: Key highlights

The data of 4,203 pregnant women was analyzed that was collected during the first wave of COVID-19 (March 2020-January 2021).

The study by ICMR noted 3,213 live births, 77 miscarriages, and 834 undelivered pregnancies. 6 per cent of the proportion reported pregnancy failure/foetal loss including stillbirths.

534 women (13 per cent) were symptomatic of which 382 (72 per cent) reported mild, 112 (21 per cent) reported moderate, and 40 (7.5 per cent) reported severe COVID-19 infection.

Among the most common complications, 528 (16.3 per cent) women reported preterm delivery, 328 (10.1 per cent) women reported hypertensive disorders in pregnancy. 158 (3.8 per cent) pregnant and post-partum women required intensive care of which 152 (96 per cent) were due to COVID-19 complications.

The overall Case Fatality Date (CFR) in pregnant and post-partum women with COVID-19 was reported among 34 women (0.8 per cent).

Region-wise, Pune and Marathwada reported a high fatality rate. 9 out 853 women (1.1 per cent) in Pune, 4 out 351 women (1.1 per cent) in Marathwada regions reported high CFR as compared to 9 out 1155 women (0.8 per cent) in Vidarbha, 11 out 1684 women (0.7 per cent) in Mumbai metropolitan, and 1 out 160 (0.6 per cent) in Khandesh regions.

The study also noted that tuberculosis, comorbidities of anaemia, and diabetes mellitus were also associated with maternal deaths.