Study finds high COVID-19 infection rates in pregnant women
The COVID-19 infection rate among pregnant women was estimated to be 70% higher than in similarly aged adults in Washington state, according to a new study published today in
American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Other key findings include:
The study also showed that the number of COVID-19 infections in pregnant patients from nearly all communities of color in Washington was high. There was a twofold to fourfold higher prevalence of pregnant patients with COVID-19 infections from communities of color than expected based on the race-ethnicity distribution of pregnant women in Washington in 2018.
The study also showed that the number of COVID-19 infections in pregnant patients from nearly all communities of color in Washington was high. There was a twofold to fourfold higher prevalence of pregnant patients with COVID-19 infections from communities of color than expected based on the race-ethnicity distribution of pregnant women in Washington in 2018.
UW Medicine
Pregnant patients of minority communities had a two- to fourfold higher prevalence of COVID-19.
The COVID-19 infection rate among pregnant women was estimated to be 70% higher than in similarly aged adults in Washington state, according to a new study published today in American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Other key findings include:
The study also showed that the number of COVID-19 infections in pregnant patients from nearly all communities of color in Washington was high. There was a twofold to fourfold higher prevalence of pregnant patients with COVID-19 infections from communities of color than expected based on the race-ethnicity distribution of pregnant women in Washington in 2018.
Specifically the study found:
Pregnant women with COVID-19 had 3.5 times higher COVID-19 associated hospitalization rate than the similarly aged general population in Washington state.
COVID-19 mortality rates were 13 times higher in pregnant mothers than in similarly aged individuals. This said, most of the pregnant patients with COVID-19 had asymptomatic or mild COVID-19 disease and healthy pregnancies.
The three women who died of COVID-19 in Washington state were from minority ethnic groups and most of them had other conditions such as obesity and hypertension.
Of the 240 pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infections detected through June, three died from COVID-19, while 24 patients were hospitalized for COVID-19. Dr. Kristina Adams Waldorf, an obstetrician-gynecologist with the University of Washington School of Medicine, and senior author of the study, noted that this shows a severe underreporting of mortality related to COVID among mothers in the United States.