Pregnancy and perinatal outcomes of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2)

This article presents current data on the impact of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) on pregnancy and perinatal consequences. The working theories of the pathogenesis of obstetric and fetal complications due to infection during pregnancy, already proven to date, are considered. Symptoms of COVID-19 disease, the risk of their development, and frequency of severe disease in non-pregnant and pregnant women of reproductive age do not differ significantly. However, there are powerful studies that have shown that this infection in pregnant women leads to a high probability of a dramatically severe and fulminant course. Pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection have an increased risk of preeclampsia, incl. severe, hemolysis, thrombocytopenia and increased levels of liver enzymes compared with pregnant women without infection. Women who have COVID-19 are twice as likely to have preterm rupture of the membranes and three times as likely to have a preterm birth compared to the not infected pregnant women. Vertical transmission of the virus from mother to fetus is likely, but data are insufficient to be certain. There is also insufficient evidence of an increased miscarriage rate and teratogenic effects of the COVID-19 virus. However, antenatal fetal death is statistically significantly more common in infected pregnant women than in uninfected pregnant women. Morphological and functional disorders in the chorion/placenta are the main pathogenetic factor in the development of preeclampsia, intrauterine growth retardation, antenatal fetal death and impaired state of the fetus and children born by women with COVID-19. Many studies report that mothers with confirmed COVID-19 infection has asymptomatic babies. At the same time, some studies indicate adverse complications in newborns from infected mothers. The most common neonatal disorders in babies from pregnant women with COVID-19 are tachypnea, hyperthermia, and gastrointestinal disorders, in particular vomiting and flatulence