Ahmedabad: Covid kinder to pregnant women, says study

AHMEDABAD: Compared to swine flu (H1N1) that claimed high mortality among pregnant women, the Covid-19 pandemic has proved to be kinder to moms-to-be. A study carried out by a team of gynaecologists at AMC-run SVP Hospital attached with NHL Municipal Medical College found that none of the 125 Covid-19 positive expectant mothers who were admitted died of the virus illness.


The 125 pregnant women were studied to understand the impact of Covid-19 infection.

The period of study witnessed 94 live births, two deaths after delivery and three abortions. In 23 women, the pregnancy was continued. The live births included two twins. All were tested for Covid-19 infection and only 16 were found to be positive. No maternal death was recorded, according to the paper published in International Journal Of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The team of researchers included Dr Parul Shah, Dr Sapana Shah, Dr Sushma Shah, Dr Pushpa Yadav, Dr Babulal Patel and Dr Tanmay Chudasama from Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, NHLMC.

The study reported that three-fourth pregnant women were in the age group of 21 to 30 years. In 31% of the cases, women had contact history with a positive person. Cough and fever were the most reported symptoms. 'Out of total, 38% women were asymptomatic,’ mentioned the paper. About 60% of the women were in their third trimester.

In 16 cases, pregnancy-related complications were reported but were not related to Covid-19 infection and were managed well with conventional treatment plans, said researchers. Thirty were given corticosteroids and 19 were administered hydroxychloroquine. Only three women needed ICU admission.

‘Lung patches found in 19 of the patients studied’

Talking about the impact of Covid-19, researchers mentioned that elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) was recorded in 64% of patients.

In 19 of the patients, lung patches were found in CT scan and SGPT levels were found shooting up in 36% of patients.

‘Currently, there is no evidence that pregnant women are at greater risk to succumb to COVID-19 infection and experience severe pneumonia.

This preliminary study however does not rule out the possibility of vertical transmission of SARSCoV-2 when it manifests towards the end of pregnancy,’ mentioned the findings of the study, adding that no increased risk of spontaneous abortion or preterm delivery was found among the positive patients.