SCIENCE COMMUNICATION. Pregnant women are not a pronounced risk group but are urged to be careful to avoid becoming infected with COVID-19. So far, smaller studies have pointed to an increase risk of blood clots and premature births from the infection but larger studies are needed to confirm this. The latest edition of Akademiliv, the podcast from Sahlgrenska Academy, is about a new national research project begun by researchers at the University of Gothenburg and Sahlgrenska University Hospital.
Karolina Lindén, researcher and midwife, and Verna Sengpiel, researcher and obstetrician, are interviewed in the podcast by communications officers Elin Lindström and Susanne Ljungman Westergren. Click here to listen: https://soundcloud.com/sahlgrenskaakademin/forskning-om-hur-covid-19-paverkar-gravida-kvinnor-deras-nyfodda-barn-och-partners
It is still unclear how COVID-19 impacts pregnant women and unborn children. There are many questions about how to treat pregnant women with COVID-19 and how pregnant women, whether sick or not, are impacted by the ongoing pandemic. And what happens to a child whose mother was sick with COVID-19 during the pregnancy?
Maternity wards throughout the country
Around 20 Swedish maternity wards are included in a new study called COPE (COVID-19 in Pregnancy and Early childhood). The study was initiated in March 2020 by the Swedish Network for Clinical Studies within Obstetrics and Gynecology (SNAKS). Recruitment to the study began in June 2020. Tests and survey responses are added continually, but at the moment the study has about 150 pregnant women who have been documented with COVID-19 during pregnancy and about 600 in a comparison group, where it is not known if they have had the infection or tested negative. The study will result in an extensive biobank with samples, linked to a databank with data from different Swedish health and quality registers, like the pregnancy register and Swedish newborn register, and responses to surveys. These will provide answers on how COVID-19 impacts pregnancy, delivery, experiences of pregnancy and early parenthood, and the child’s health well into the future.
Adapted maternity care
Like all other medical care, maternity care in Sweden has been adjusted to minimize risks for infection, even if the adjustments are different from region to region. In many cases, the partner is no longer allowed to join the mother for ultrasound examinations and other visits within prenatal care. The medical system’s adjustments for the pandemic also mean that a partner with cold symptoms is not allowed to be present for the birth. So, it is a good idea for pregnant women to have a back-up, perhaps a relative or a friend who can provide support in the delivery room during the birth, if needed.
Karolina Lindén, a midwife and researcher at the University of Gothenburg, wants to answer some of the following questions:
“I am very interested in how the expectant parents experience the changes that have been made and how they affect the delivery experience and interaction with the child. For many pregnant women, there is an extra concern that their partner may not be allowed to join them in the hospital when it is time to give birth and, if that happens, I wonder how they experienced the birth? What was it like for the person who was forced to stay at home?”
Pregnant women must take precautions
Anyone who is pregnant now during the pandemic is urged to take precautions to not become infected with COVID-19. The research has not yet fully mapped the risks it can entail for mother and child if a pregnant woman becomes infected. Previously, there have only been a small number of studies based on one or a few individual cases that could be used by the medical care system to base their monitoring and treatment of pregnant women with COVID-19. Recent data suggest that COVID-19 may increase the risk of premature birth, eclampsia and blood clots in women.
“As a pregnant woman, it is really important to follow the recommendations that have been issued, for example, to maintain your distance, avoid situations where there is an increased risk of infection, and to work from home if possible,” says Verena Sengpiel, researcher at the University of Gothenburg and chief physician at the Women’s Clinic, Sahlgrenska University Hospital.
She also emphasizes that it is also important that pregnant women with symptoms be tested for COVID-19:
“If the test is positive, the maternity ward needs to know so it can assess whether preventive measures against blood clots should be initiated. Pregnancy, in itself, means an increased risk of blood clots, and several studies have shown that COVID-19 can lead to a further increased risk of this.
Links:
- Read more about the study copestudien.se
- Read more about SNAKS (The Swedish Network for Clinical Studies within Obstetrics and Gynecology), snaks.se
- The Public Health Agency of Sweden (in Swedish): https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/smittskydd-beredskap/utbrott/aktuella-utbrott/covid-19/skydda-dig-och-andra/gravida/
- Swedish Work Environment Authority: Pregnant women and COVID-19 in the workplace (in Swedish): https://www.av.se/nyheter/2020/gravida-och-covid-19-pa-arbetsplatsen–forsiktighetsprincipen-ska-rada/
TEXT AND PHOTO: ELIN LINDSTRÖM
