Pregnancy

• [New] Data from Medical Birth Registry of Norway demonstrates that childhood emotional, physical and sexual abuses separately increase the risk of having an unplanned pregnancy.
• [New] Pregnant women are at higher risk of severe COVID-19 than non-pregnant women, and COVID-19 has been associated with an increased risk of pre-term birth.
• [New] Pregnant women are at higher than average risk for getting bad outcomes from COVID-19 infection, and the CDC and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommend that pregnant women get vaccinated if they otherwise meet eligibility criteria.
• Although there is no evidence COVID-19 vaccines could cause harm when given to women in pregnancy, there is insufficient evidence to recommend Australian pregnant woman routinely get vaccinated.
• Over 2.25 million cases of children aged 0 to 59 months, and more than a million pregnant and lactating women are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in the course of 2021.
• The risk of a preterm birth was reduced by as much as 9% for women in Oklahoma and as much as 7% in Missouri who began participating in WIC at the beginning of their pregnancy.
• Pregnant women in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, who are exposed to poor air quality, may be at higher risk of stillbirths and miscarriages.
• Continued attacks on the ACA have put millions of people - particularly Black women and Latinas - at risk of losing health coverage under Medicaid.
• Pregnant women with COVID-19 may have an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth, reports the CDC.
• The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine are aware of the World Health Organization's (WHO) recommendation to withhold COVID-19 vaccines from pregnant individuals unless they are at high risk of exposure.
• The more permissive WHO language provides an important opportunity for pregnant women to get vaccinated and protect themselves from the severe risks of Covid-19.
• The World Health Organization on Friday changed its guidance for pregnant women considering a Covid-19 vaccine, abandoning opposition to immunization for most expectant mothers unless they are at high risk.
• Although the relative risks in pregnancy are increased, the absolute risks for severe disease are low, with about 1% of pregnant women in the United States requiring admission to an intensive care unit and 1.5 deaths per 1000 pregnant women with COVID-19.
• Air pollution could be a major contributor to pregnancy loss in south Asia, so controlling air pollution is vital for improving maternal health.
• CDC recommends hepatitis B and hepatitis C screening for all pregnant women during each pregnancy, hepatitis B risk-based testing for all other adults, and hepatitis C testing at least once for all adults aged 18 years and older and regularly for people with known risk factors.
• Pregnant women have traditionally seen a doctor for regular blood pressure checks that could turn up warning signs of preeclampsia, a complication responsible for 70,000 maternal deaths and half a million miscarriages every year worldwide.
• WHO recommends not to use BNT162b 2 in pregnancy, unless the benefit of vaccinating a pregnant woman outweighs the potential vaccine risks, such as in health workers at high risk of exposure and pregnant women with comorbidities placing them in a high-risk group for severe COVID-19.
• Pregnant women are at increased risk of severe COVID-19 illness compared to women who are not pregnant.
• NSAID use early in pregnancy is linked with increased risk of miscarriage, and the risk is higher for women with a lower BMI.
• The number of pregnancies in women with congenital heart disease has increased over the past decades and is expected to rise further in the coming years.
• The 'National Nutritional Mission' launched to improve nutritional status of children, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers seeks to make India malnutrition free by 2022.

Last updated: 07 March 2021