There were a total of 27,343 births in Norway in the first half of 2020. Very few pregnant women with Covid-19 (a total of 17) were admitted to the hospital. It shows a preliminary review from an extended registration of pregnant women with the disease, discussed in the article Pregnancy and childbirth during the coronavirus pandemic.
How the coronavirus affects pregnancy and childbirth
Results As Summarized
The follow-up of pregnant women with covid-19 currently shows that:
- Most gave birth vaginally at term, but there were a few planned caesareans for reasons other than covid-19.
- There were no cases of fetal death or death in newborns after birth.
- All the newborns had normal weight in relation to the length of pregnancy.
- No children needed monitoring in the neonatal intensive care unit.
- All children were breastfed.
- No pregnant women with covid-19 needed treatment in the intensive care unit, with a respirator or with a heart-lung machine.
- 7 of the women were born outside Norway, this reflects the distribution of country of birth for all pregnant women in Norway.
- Most women had not known chronic disease, they were normal weight and no one was severely overweight with a body mass index above 35.
The follow-up so far shows the same as has been seen in other countries.
Normal course for mother and child
The review shows that most pregnant women who became infected with coronavirus and needed hospitalization did not have such a serious illness that they needed intensive monitoring and ventilation support. The pregnancy and birth have proceeded normally.
– It has gone well with the pregnant women who were infected with covid-19 and with their children, but it is still important to reach all pregnant women with information about personal protection and infection control measures, says chief physician Hilde Engjom in the Medical Birth Register, National Institute of Public Health.
She emphasizes that the data collection only covers pregnant women who have needed hospitalization, either due to coronavirus infection or for other reasons.
Small, preliminary figures
Engjom adds that the Medical Birth Register usually does not share such small numbers for a period as short as four months. – We share these preliminary results to convey this to pregnant women and health professionals who treat pregnant women, says Engjom, who emphasizes that work is still in progress with quality assurance of the results.
Advice for pregnant women in their full term: For pregnant women in their full term, it is important to be ready at all times. When caught in labor alone, call an emergency service or reliable car rental (leiebilnord) to take you to the hospital for emergency childbirth.