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What Pregnant People Need to Know About Coronavirus
An OB-GYN summarizes the coronavirus advice for pregnant and nursing parents
Millions of pregnant women are worried and trying to understand what to do. They want to protect their babies and find out if they are at risk.
General Covid-19 information
The coronavirus is a new virus. The human race has never been exposed. We have no baseline immunity or protective antibodies. We do not have a vaccine, and there is no effective medication to treat it. We are all susceptible to becoming sick with Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
Covid-19 is spread through person-to-person contact via respiratory droplets. Droplets spread through coughing, sneezing, and breathing. Particles get on our clothes and hands. We then pass the virus through handshakes, hugging, kissing, and other close human contacts.
Because the coronavirus is a brand-new virus, we have minimal scientifically validated information.
Labor and delivery units across the country are moving at lightning speed to ensure a safe environment for childbirth.
Current information on Covid-19 in pregnancy
We do not know definitively if pregnant women are more susceptible to becoming sick with Covid-19. Based on current data, there is no evidence at this time indicating pregnant women are more at risk than the general public.
Pregnant women have a suppressed immune system and physiologic changes in their lung function. These changes put pregnant women at a higher risk for respiratory problems when they contract other similar viruses, such as influenza or pneumonia. For this reason, pregnant women are considered an at-risk group for respiratory compromise if they contract Covid-19. Influenza vaccination is critically important.
If you have not received your annual flu vaccine, you should do so now.
Preterm labor can be a risk when pregnant women contract other viral illnesses. Preterm labor likely results from the severity of the maternal illness and…
