Laboring Alone: Perinatal Outcomes during Childbirth without a Birth Partner or Other Companion during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020, the government of the Czech Republic issued a nationwide ban on visitors to maternity wards. We studied whether the absence of a close person during labor due to this ban impacted perinatal indicators. This study was performed using an administrative observational questionnaire focused on absolute frequencies of events sent to maternity facilities across the Czech Republic. Completed answers were received from 33 facilities covering 4805 births during the study period in 2019 and 4514 births in 2020. The differences in individual parameters were tested using Pearson's chi-squared homogeneity test. There were no significant differences between the two periods in spontaneous pre-term births (p = 0.522) or in the number of cesarean sections (p = 0.536). No significant changes were seen in either local or systemic analgesia. Data showed a significantly shorter (p = 0.026) first stage of labor in 2020 compared to 2019, while there was no significant difference (p = 0.673) in the second stage of labor. There was no statistically significant difference found for newborn perinatal adaptation. There were also no significant differences in intrapartum maternal injuries. Overall, we found no significant differences in basic perinatal indicators during the first wave of COVID-19 in 2020 compared to 2019. Although the absence of a close person may cause stress for the laboring women, it does not impair objective clinical outcomes.

COVID-19, Vaccination, and Female Fertility in the Czech Republic.

The fast-track process to approve vaccines against COVID-19 has raised questions about their safety, especially in relation to fertility. Over the last 2 years, studies have appeared monitoring female fertility, especially from assisted reproduction centers or in animal experiments. However, studies monitoring healthy populations are still limited. The aim of our study was to monitor the relevant parameters of female fertility (sex and other steroids, LH, FSH, SHBG, Antimüllerian hormone and antral follicle count) before and then 2-4 months after the third dose of vaccination against COVID-19 in a group of 25 healthy fertile woman. In addition, anti-SARS-CoV-2 and anti-SARS-CoV-2S antibodies were determined. We did not observe significant changes in the measured parameters before and after the third dose of vaccination. By comparing levels of the analytes with antibodies indicating a prior COVID-19 infection, we found that women who had experienced the disease had statistically lower levels of estrone, estradiol, SHBG and 5α-dihydroprogesterone, and conversely, higher levels of androgen active dehydroepiandrosterone and dihydrotestosterone. Our results confirm that vaccination does not affect female fertility, and that what fertile women should be worried about is not vaccination, but rather COVID-19 infection itself.