COVID-19 and Pregnancy A narrative review of maternal and perinatal outcomes

As of March 2021, approximately 130 million people worldwide had been infected with SARS-CoV-2. However, limited data are available regarding the effects of COVID-19 infection on pregnancy and maternal and perinatal outcomes. The MEDLINE® (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA), SCOPUS (Elsevier, Amsterdam, Netherlands) and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (EBSCO Information Services, Ipswich, Massachusetts, USA) databases were searched to identify relevant English-language articles published between January 2020 and February 2021. A total of 17 articles describing the outcomes of 762 pregnancies were identified. There were 613 babies born, including 16 sets of twins. Within the cases studied, 12 (1.6%) maternal deaths and eight (1.3%) stillbirths were reported. A small proportion (3.9%) of mothers required admission to the intensive care unit, usually due to associated comorbidities. Rates of Caesarean and preterm delivery were 27-100% and 4-50% respectively. Further research is necessary to determine the effect of COVID-19 infection on early pregnancy. Keywords: COVID-19; Pregnancy; Maternal Death; Perinatal Death; Pregnancy Outcome; Stillbirths; Preterm Births; Review.