The impact of COVID-19 in pregnancy: Part II. Vaccination to pregnant women.

Effective strategies are urgently needed to decrease the risk of untoward outcomes of pregnant women with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]) infection. Pregnant women are a vulnerable population to infectious disease pandemics with dramatically increased infectious diseases-related serious complications, such as the need of hospitalizations, the need of admission to intensive care unit, and the final disease-related death compared with those nonpregnant counterparts or those pregnant women without infection. Several studies have shown that vaccinations in pregnancy are a safe and highly effective strategy, not only for pregnant women but also for fetus and/or newborn because of the passive transplacental transfer of antibodies to the offspring. Active and passive prevention of infectious diseases is approved as effective strategies for women who attempt to become pregnant or during pregnancy. Despite the large and proven scientific evidence, pregnant women still puzzle over whether they should get vaccinated. The question therefore arises: Why are pregnant women so reluctant to receive vaccination? The explanation is more likely in the way that the benefits of vaccination have been communicated "confusedly." In fact, like virtually all clinical trials, all the COVID-19 vaccine trials have excluded pregnant and lactating women from participating, contributing to uncertainty of safety and efficacy in COVID-19 vaccines that have been well prepared and available for the general adult population worldwide. Moreover, messenger RNA vaccine is a relatively brand-new vaccine, and experience with this type of vaccine is still scarce. It is hard to overcome this innovation deadlock. The knowledge and awareness of pregnant women who are at risk, and full information on the knowledge of vaccines and related preventable diseases in pregnant women may avoid hesitancy and increase vaccine acceptance. The current review is a part two addressing the impact of COVID-19 on pregnant women. We focus on the up-to-date information about the application of vaccination on pregnant women, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic.

The impact of COVID-19 in pregnancy: Part I. Clinical presentations and untoward outcomes of pregnant women with COVID-19.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19) is a pandemic disease with rapidly and widely disseminating to the world. Based on experiences about the H1N1, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus pandemics, pregnant women who are infected are disproportionately more likely to develop severe illness and need more hospitalizations, intensive care, and finally die of diseases compared with those nonpregnant counterparts or those pregnant women without infection. Although more than one half of pregnant women with COVID-19 are asymptomatic, and as well as their symptoms are frequently mild, this observation presents a further challenge regarding service provision, prevention, and management, in which this may result in overlooking the risk of COVID-19 during pregnancy. As predictable, despite much advance in critical care in recent decades, during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, pregnant women with COVID-19 are really at higher risk to progress to severe illness; require hospitalization; need intensive care, such as the use of mechanical ventilation as well as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and of most important, die than their nonpregnant counterparts and pregnant women without COVID-19. The magnitude of the risk to pregnant women further extend to their newborn from COVID-19 with resultant significantly increasing perinatal and neonatal morbidity and mortality rates. The heightened risk of untoward outcomes in pregnant women emphasizes an urgent need of national or international recommendations and guidelines to optimize prevention and management strategies for COVID-19 in pregnancy. Active and passive prevention of COVID-19 is approved as effective strategies for women who attempt to be pregnant or during pregnancy. Understanding that pregnant women who are a vulnerable population is essential to improve the care in the novel and urgent COVID-19 pandemic. The current review is a part I to summarize the up-to-date information about the impact of laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection on pregnant women and focus on clinical presentations and untoward pregnancy outcomes of these pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2.

A symptomatic near-term pregnant woman recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection.

OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) is a global health crisis. Although pregnant women are a vulnerable population during the infectious pandemics, extremely rare cases of pregnant women infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are described in Taiwan. We share our experience to manage a pregnant women with COVID-19 in the third trimester and subsequent delivery at term. CASE REPORT: A 43-year-old woman presented with sore throat, cough and rhinorrhea was diagnosed as laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection at the 35 gestational weeks (GW). During the hospitalization, the disease progressed with a need of oxygen supplement and prednisolone therapy. She was discharged uneventfully at 37 GW. Finally, she delivered a female baby with Apgar score of 8-9 points at 38 GW by cesarean section due to the deformity of pelvic cavity resulted from previous surgery for pelvic bone tumor. Both mother and her offspring (without SARS-CoV-2 infection) were discharged uneventfully. CONCLUSION: Our report adds the growing body of experience toward management of pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Decision making of timing and method of delivery is regarding to individualized condition and hospital setting.

Maternal and fetal outcomes of the pregnant woman with COVID-19: The first case report in Taiwan.

OBJECTIVE: A real-Taiwan experience to deal with near-term pregnant woman infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19) is extremely limited. We described the first case in Taiwan. CASE REPORT: A 30-year-old woman, primigravida had a laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection at 36 gestational weeks (GW). She was asymptomatic. Ten days later, she was hospitalized and receive a selective cesarean section with a term baby weighted 3142 gm (Apgar score 8 and 9 at 1st and 5th minute, respectively) at 38 GW. No evidence of in utero and direct transmission was found and newborn was free of COVID-19. CONCLUSION: It is still uncertain whether timing or mode of delivery is appropriate in SARS-CoV-2 infected pregnant woman in near term, but we suggested that a selective delivery time at 38 GW or later, regardless of which mode of delivery is finally decided, can be considered.