Retrospective Description of Pregnant Women Infected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, France
Alexandre Vivanti, J. Mattern, Christelle Vauloup‐Fellous, Jacques Jani, Luc Rigonnot, Larissa El Hachem, Agnès Le Gouez, Céline Desconclois, Imane Ben M’Barek, Jeanne Sibiude, Alexandra Benachi, Olivier Picone, Anne-Gaël Cordier
Abstract
R ecent literature from China, Italy, and the United States suggests that pregnant women are not at higher risk for severe forms of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), contrary to what has been reported with SARS and MERS (1-3). Nevertheless, 3%-35% of infected pregnant women were hospitalized in intensive care units (ICUs) (2,4-7) and respiratory and hematology anomalies were described, just as in the nonpregnant infected population (8). In the third trimester, and especially after 37 weeks' gestation, the fetal prognosis is driven by maternal clinical tolerance and by whether a cesarean delivery is required. Few cases of vertical transmission have been published (6-9), and no data are available on the risk factors for such transmission. However, between 24 and 32 weeks' gestation, the risk for premature birth and the need to reduce its effects on neonatal outcome by giving steroids and magnesium sulfate to the mother complicate decision-making. Little published data are available on the management of SARS-CoV-2-infected pregnant women (10). We describe the experience of 4 tertiary referral obstetric units in managing such cases in the Paris metropolitan area of France.