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Tribune News Network
Doha
Two medical students at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) have conducted a systematic review of the latest medical literature to provide a clearer understanding of how the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) affects pregnant women, new mothers and newborn babies.
Second-year students Reem Chamseddine and Farah Wahbeh reviewed 245 pregnancies that were complicated by maternal COVID-19 infection across 48 scientific studies published between December 2019 and July 30, 2020. They found that 55.9 percent of the pregnant women with COVID-19 infection presented with fever and 36.3 percent with a cough. A total of 12.7 percent presented with shortness of breath, but only 4.1 percent developed respiratory distress.
The vast majority -- 89 percent -- of the pregnant women with COVID-19 delivered their babies via cesarean section, compared with 15 percent in the general population, the study noted. Out of 201 newborns reported in the literature, 35.3 percent of babies born to mothers with COVID-19 were delivered pre-term (before 36 weeks), compared with 13 percent in the general population.
There was a concerning 2.5 percent rate of stillbirth delivery or neonatal death, compared with less than one percent in the general population. However, the study indicated that the risk of death for pregnant women with COVID-19 is low, and that it does not appear that the infection is vertically transmitted from mother to foetus during pregnancy, although 6.45 percent of newborns tested positive for the disease. It is possible these newborns acquired COVID-19 infection in the hospital or at home after birth, according to the literature.
The study also found that COVID-19 does not appear to be passed from mother to baby in breast milk, but that there is still a risk the infection can be passed on via respiratory droplets during breastfeeding. As such, COVID-19-positive mothers are advised to take reasonable precautions during breastfeeding.
The study, titled ‘Pregnancy and Neonatal Outcomes in SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Systematic Review’, has been published in the ‘Journal of Pregnancy’, a leading peer-reviewed open-access journal.
Student Reem Chamseddine, a member of WCM-Q’s Class of 2023, said: “In the early days of the pandemic, not much was known regarding pregnancy complications in the setting of COVID-19 infection. Naturally, it was important to understand the emerging data about this topic as the virus would affect thousands of pregnant women. As medical students, we are encouraged to be curious and to engage in the healthcare issues around us. Getting to work on this project is an example of the academic values instilled in us here at WCM-Q.”
Reem and Farah were mentored during the research process by Dr Arash Rafii Tabrizi, professor of Genetic Medicine in Obstetrics and Gynecology at WCM-Q, who is also a named author of the research paper.
Dr Tabrizi, who is also director of the Clinical Research Support Core at WCM-Q, said: “I was really impressed by the desire of our students to be part of the fight against COVID-19. The work of Reem and Farah perfectly illustrates one of the most important elements of our mission as doctors: we have to provide accurate information to allow people to adopt the correct attitude and actions to protect themselves and others.”
The review can be read in full at: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jp/2020/4592450/
Doha
Two medical students at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) have conducted a systematic review of the latest medical literature to provide a clearer understanding of how the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) affects pregnant women, new mothers and newborn babies.
Second-year students Reem Chamseddine and Farah Wahbeh reviewed 245 pregnancies that were complicated by maternal COVID-19 infection across 48 scientific studies published between December 2019 and July 30, 2020. They found that 55.9 percent of the pregnant women with COVID-19 infection presented with fever and 36.3 percent with a cough. A total of 12.7 percent presented with shortness of breath, but only 4.1 percent developed respiratory distress.
The vast majority -- 89 percent -- of the pregnant women with COVID-19 delivered their babies via cesarean section, compared with 15 percent in the general population, the study noted. Out of 201 newborns reported in the literature, 35.3 percent of babies born to mothers with COVID-19 were delivered pre-term (before 36 weeks), compared with 13 percent in the general population.
There was a concerning 2.5 percent rate of stillbirth delivery or neonatal death, compared with less than one percent in the general population. However, the study indicated that the risk of death for pregnant women with COVID-19 is low, and that it does not appear that the infection is vertically transmitted from mother to foetus during pregnancy, although 6.45 percent of newborns tested positive for the disease. It is possible these newborns acquired COVID-19 infection in the hospital or at home after birth, according to the literature.
The study also found that COVID-19 does not appear to be passed from mother to baby in breast milk, but that there is still a risk the infection can be passed on via respiratory droplets during breastfeeding. As such, COVID-19-positive mothers are advised to take reasonable precautions during breastfeeding.
The study, titled ‘Pregnancy and Neonatal Outcomes in SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Systematic Review’, has been published in the ‘Journal of Pregnancy’, a leading peer-reviewed open-access journal.
Student Reem Chamseddine, a member of WCM-Q’s Class of 2023, said: “In the early days of the pandemic, not much was known regarding pregnancy complications in the setting of COVID-19 infection. Naturally, it was important to understand the emerging data about this topic as the virus would affect thousands of pregnant women. As medical students, we are encouraged to be curious and to engage in the healthcare issues around us. Getting to work on this project is an example of the academic values instilled in us here at WCM-Q.”
Reem and Farah were mentored during the research process by Dr Arash Rafii Tabrizi, professor of Genetic Medicine in Obstetrics and Gynecology at WCM-Q, who is also a named author of the research paper.
Dr Tabrizi, who is also director of the Clinical Research Support Core at WCM-Q, said: “I was really impressed by the desire of our students to be part of the fight against COVID-19. The work of Reem and Farah perfectly illustrates one of the most important elements of our mission as doctors: we have to provide accurate information to allow people to adopt the correct attitude and actions to protect themselves and others.”
The review can be read in full at: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jp/2020/4592450/
