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A new study has found that infants born to mothers with COVID-19 are more likely to have health issues in the early months of their lives. In addition, pregnant women who have COVID are also more likely to suffer health complications during their third trimester.
"There were significant differences between the COVID-19-positive and healthy controls included higher rates of GDM (gestational diabetes), low lymphocyte counts (white blood cell count) which were significantly lower, postpartum hemorrhage (bleeding during birth), and neonatal respiratory complications," lead Dr. Elior Eliasi wrote in the Journal Of Maternal-Fetal And Neonatal Medicine.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 125,000 pregnant women have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Of those, 22,000 women were hospitalized, and at least 171 died due to complications from the coronavirus. Of the women who were hospitalized, 97% were unvaccinated, underscoring the importance for pregnant women to get vaccinated.
The CDC recommends that all women "who are pregnant, recently pregnant (including those who are lactating), who are trying to get pregnant now, or who might become pregnant in the future," should get vaccinated.
"Our findings support the importance of vaccinating all pregnant women at all stages of pregnancy," Dr. Eliasi said.