Pregnant women may be at higher risk of severe coronavirus the closer they get to their due date, a new study has warned.
Researchers from Lund University have looked into the effects of pregnancy on coronavirus severity.
Writing for The Conversation, lead researchers Dr Mehreen Zaigham and Dr Ola Andersson explained: “The immune system during pregnancy becomes less aggressive so as not to attack the genetically different baby growing inside the mother. This makes the mother more susceptible to viral infections.
“Similarly, the size of the chest cavity decreases during pregnancy, leaving the lungs with less space to work in due to pressure from the growing womb.
“This is why pregnant women often experience difficulty in breathing, especially in the last three months of pregnancy. It could also make COVID-19 more severe.”
In the study, the researchers analysed the first 108 pregnancies reported with a confirmed COVID-19.
According to the researchers, the mothers often suffered from the classic COVID -19 symptoms of a fever and a dry cough, although not all the women showed symptoms.
Most of the mothers were in their third trimester, and many needed delivery before the baby’s due date.
What’s more, 91% of the mothers had their babies delivered by cesarean section.
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The researchers explained: “The reason for this was often unclear, but some researchers cited possible foetal distress – which means that the unborn baby was at risk from suffering a lack of oxygen.”
The team highlights that a number of factors can complicate pregnancy, including diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure.
However, they added: “We found there is increasing evidence suggesting that women with already high-risk pregnancies had more severe COVID-19 infections.”
Thankfully, the review did not find any evidence that mothers infected their foetus with COVID-19.
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