Optimal approaches to pregnant women with COVID-19

Abstract

Global COVID pandemic results in numerous tragic outcomes. One, though hopefully not common, is newborns being born and even dying. This piece highlights ethical dilemmas and clinical practices that may be optimal for these mothers and these infants before and after mothers deliver. The interventions discussed include reducing fetuses’ risks during birth, bonding, and mothers and parents maximizing the meaning they derive from whatever happens, even when their child dies. Finally, when and whether these mothers should participate in research is discussed. The goal throughout is to identify ways in which the tragic outcomes to which these fetuses, mothers, and parents can be reduced, to the degree that this is possible.