A new study published in the journal BMJ Global Health has found that pregnant women infected with Covid-19 are at a higher risk of death, critical care admission and developing pneumonia than those who are not infected. The study was conducted on more than 13,000 pregnant women from 12 different countries and the results revealed that three per cent of pregnant women with Covid-19 required intensive care, while four per cent received critical care and were five times more likely to receive critical care than the women in the studies who were negative for Covid-19. Not only do the pregnant women infected with coronavirus suffer from severe complications, but their babies are also two times more likely to be admitted to an ICU than those not infected with the virus.
The lead author of the study, Emily R. Smith, noted that vaccination rates for pregnant people are low because “the assumption is that if a person is pregnant, they are probably young and for the most part healthy.” The study called for the need for global efforts to improve the access to safe preventives and therapeutics for pregnant women.
