A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF PREGNANCY OUTCOMES IN MOTHERS WITH COVID-19 INFECTION

Pregnant women were a risk group needing special attention during the Covid-19 epidemic. Most studies conducted in this regard are case reports, studies with small population sizes, and conflicting results in pregnancy outcomes. The research team conducted a systematic review and summarized studies that reported adverse pregnancy outcomes in pregnant women with Covid-19 infection.

A comprehensive literature review was conducted in PubMed and Scopus with no initial time limit until September 2022 to retrieve original articles published evaluating the association between Covid-19 infection and adverse pregnancy outcomes. The appropriate keywords were used in the search process. From 1790 articles obtained in the primary search, 141 eligible studies, including 1,843,278 pregnant women were examined. The evaluation of the quality of the included studies based on the critical evaluation checklist showed that 65% have high quality, 34% have average quality, and 1% have low quality.

Pregnant women are at greater potential risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes. The most common adverse pregnancy outcomes reported were preterm birth (9 studies), premature rupture of membrane (4 studies), gestational diabetes (1 study), hypertensive disorders (4 studies), fetal distress (2 studies), intrauterine fetal death (2 studies), low birth weight (3 studies), and NICU admission (3 studies). In most studies, there was no evidence of vertical transmission of Covid-19 from mother to fetus.

Covid-19 infection may cause adverse pregnancy outcomes during pregnancy. Vertical transmission from mother to fetus may occur, but the immediate and long-term effects on the infant are unknown. Therefore, considering the possibility of vertical transmission of this virus, the treatment team should be aware of this and take the necessary measures and attention. Also, if the mother is seriously ill, separation from the baby should be considered. Further studies are needed to clarify the causal relationship between these outcomes and covid-19 infection.