Newborns from mothers who have had COVID-19 during pregnancy: describing critical conditions during the neonatal period

Abstract

Significant progress has been achieved in the study of COVID-19 so far. Some authors prove an increase in the frequency of critical conditions and the overall morbidity of newborns from mothers who have had COVID-19 during pregnancy. Materials and methods used: a prospective cohort study was conducted in Jan. 2021-Dec. 2022 comparing two groups of 107 each of neonates born in severe condition. In the first group of newborns, mothers were diagnosed with COVID-19 during pregnancy; in the second group, mothers did not have acute respiratory viral diseases. Results: children from mothers who had COVID-19 were statistically significantly more likely to have respiratory disorders (p<0.001), congenital pneumonia (p<0.001), perinatal period infection (p<0.001), intraventricular hemorrhages (p<0.001) and hyperbilirubinemia (p=0.040). In the blood test, a statistically significant decrease in the content of erythrocytes, hemoglobin and hematocrit values (p<0.001), lymphocytes (p=0.041) and band neutrophils was noted. A biochemical blood test revealed an increase in total bilirubin (p=0.034) and creatinine (p=0.030). The most critical is the birth of a child within 1st to 3rd weeks after the mother’s COVID-19, when the highest incidence of pneumonia and DIC syndrome was recorded in newborns, OR=6.8 [1.95; 23.66] and deaths, OR=17.75 [2.08; 150.93]. More distant consequences can be considered fetal growth retardation syndrome, OR=1.8 [1.55; 5.87], increased incidence of malformations and minor anomalies in the development of the newborn, OR=1.75 [1.02; 4.90]. Conclusion: morbidity and severity of the condition of the newborn depends on the period between the infectious process of COVID-19 of the mother and the birth of the child.