'Pregnant women should be vaccinated'... '7x' risk of dying from COVID-19 : U.S.

Infection with the COVID-19 virus "during pregnancy" increases the risk of death for pregnant women sevenfold and also increases health risks for newborns, a study published today.

On January 16th (local time), a research team led by Emily Smith, an associate professor in the Department of Global Health at the George Washington University Milcon School of Public Health, published a paper in the BMJ Global Health Suzy Journal with the above outline.

The current study analyzed 12 separate studies conducted in 12 countries. The data included 13,136 pregnant women, of whom 1,942 had COVID-19 during pregnancy or were diagnosed by a doctor.

The analysis showed that pregnant women infected with COVID-19 had more than seven times the mortality rate compared to pregnant women who were not infected with COVID-19. They were also three times more likely to be critically ill, 15 times more likely to require artificial respiration, and 23 times more likely to contract pneumonia.

Pregnant women who contract COVID-19 almost double the risk of their newborn being admitted to an intensive care unit, and are at risk of premature birth.