COVID-19: Understanding SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant women and their babies

Women and their babies are especially vulnerable to infection during pregnancy and the first weeks after birth. Thousands of pregnant women in the UK are likely to have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 –many with no symptoms. Professor Kirsty Le Doare at St George’s University of London is leading a study to find out how much of a problem this virus is for women and their babies. She hopes the findings will help reassure pregnant and breastfeeding women – and inform how to protect women and their babies from any potential risks, both now and in the future.

How are children’s lives affected now?

More than 700,000 babies are born in the UK each year.¹ While certain bacterial or viral infections during pregnancy or soon after birth can cause harm for women and their babies, the potential risks of SARS-CoV-2 are so far unknown.

“Understandably, the COVID-19 pandemic has raised major concerns for pregnant women and their healthcare teams,” says Professor Le Doare.

Current evidence suggests that pregnant women are no more likely to catch COVID-19 than other healthy adults and that most of those who do, have either mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. However, a small number of pregnant women do become seriously ill with the virus and this risk may be greater during the last three months of pregnancy. But there are still many outstanding questions – such as whether the virus or protective antibodies are passed from the mother to her baby.

“Gaining a better understanding about how this infection affects pregnant women and their babies will help to inform their monitoring and care – both during and after pregnancy,” says Professor Le Doare.

How could this research help?

“We aim to establish how many pregnant women have been infected with the virus – and if their antibodies are passed to their babies, possibly providing some degree of immunity,” says Professor Le Doare.

The periCOVID study will screen pregnant women at 10 hospitals in England to identify those with SARS-CoV-2 infection, regardless of whether they have any symptoms or not – as well as including others who test positive for the virus elsewhere in the country.

“We will carry out laboratory tests on various bodily fluids and tissue to find out how many pregnant women have SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in their bloodstream – and whether or not they pass these to their baby via the placenta or during breastfeeding,” says Professor Le Doare.

The researchers will also explore the risk of the infection passing from mother to baby during pregnancy, delivery or breastfeeding by looking for live virus in samples.

References

1. Office for National Statistics, Vital statistics in the UK: births, deaths and marriages  https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/vitalstatisticspopulationandhealthreferencetables  [website accessed 4^th February 2021]