Maternal and perinatal outcomes of pregnancy associated with COVID-19: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Introduction: This study explored maternal and infant outcomes in the periods of pregnancy, birth and the postpartum, in women with COVID-19.

Methods: After PROSPERO registration (CRD42020191106), scanning for the studies was carried out over the period 5-15 May 2020 in the PubMed, Science Direct, EBSCO and Web of Science databases with the search string: ['COVID-19' AND ('pregnancy' OR 'pregnant' OR 'maternal outcomes' OR 'infant outcomes' OR 'fetal outcomes' OR 'birth')]. Studies reporting maternal and perinatal outcomes of pregnant women with COVID-19 were included. Data were extracted independently by two researchers and combined with meta-analysis and pooled analysis.

Results: The 54 studies included in this analysis contained data on 517 pregnant women diagnosed with COVID-19 and 385 infants. Of the pregnant women, 18% had gone into preterm labor and 77% had given birth by caesarean. Of the newborns, 19% had low birth weight, 14% had fetal distress, and 24% were admitted into the neonatal intensive care unit. Nine maternal and eight baby mortalities were reported in the studies.

Conclusions: The study revealed that COVID-19 in pregnant women appeared to be negative maternal and infant outcomes, with mortalities as well.

Keywords: COVID-19; baby health; health care; maternal mortality; pregnancy outcome.