COVID-19 during pregnancy, delivery and postpartum period based on EBM

Ginekol Pol. 2020;91(7):417-423. doi: 10.5603/GP.2020.0106.

Abstract

The pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become the reason of the global health crisis. Since the first case of diagnosed COVID-19 pneumonia was reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019, the infection has spread rapidly to all over the world. The knowledge gained from previous human coronavirus infection outbreaks suggests that pregnant women and their foetuses represent a high-risk population during infectious disease epidemics. Moreover, a pregnancy, due to the physiological changes involving immune and cardiopulmonary systems, is a state predisposing women to respiratory complications of viral infection. The constantly increasing number of publications regarding the course of COVID-19 infection in pregnant women has been published, however, the available data remains limited and many questions remain unanswered. The aim of this review was to summarize the literature data and adjusted to current recommendations regarding pregnancy care, delivery and postpartum period. An extremely important issue is the need to register all the cases of COVID-19 affected women and the course of these pregnancies to local, regional, or international registries, which will be helpful to answer many clinical and scientific questions and to create guidelines ensuring an adequate level of care for women affected by COVID-19 infection during pregnancy, delivery and during postpartum period, as well as their newborns.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; pandemic; pregnancy; respiratory distress syndrome.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Betacoronavirus
  • COVID-19
  • Coronavirus Infections* / epidemiology
  • Coronavirus Infections* / physiopathology
  • Coronavirus Infections* / therapy
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / prevention & control*
  • Pandemics*
  • Patient Care Management / methods
  • Pneumonia, Viral* / epidemiology
  • Pneumonia, Viral* / physiopathology
  • Pneumonia, Viral* / therapy
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Complications, Infectious* / epidemiology
  • Pregnancy Complications, Infectious* / physiopathology
  • Pregnancy Complications, Infectious* / therapy
  • Pregnancy Outcome / epidemiology
  • SARS-CoV-2