BMC Infectious Diseases (Oct 2024)

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal-fetal outcomes in a nonepidemic designated hospital: a retrospective study and clinical experience summary

  • Jing Gao,
  • Zhongzhou Xiao,
  • Chuanyong Li,
  • Yujun Yao,
  • Lei Chen,
  • Jie Xu,
  • Weiwei Cheng

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-024-09728-9
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 24, no. 1
pp. 1 – 11

Abstract

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Abstract Objective To assess the changes in maternal-fetal outcomes in a nonepidemic designated hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This retrospective cohort study was conducted between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2021 on pregnant patients. The fixed-effects regression model was used to determine changes in birth outcomes and pregnancy-related complications between three periods with the pre-epidemic cohort as the control group. Logistic regression was applied to determine the odds ratio (OR) for binary outcomes. Results There were 15,261 births during the pre-epidemic period, and this number decreased by 15% and 23% to 12,980 and 11,736 in the first and second epidemic cohorts, respectively. The mean birth weight during the pre-epidemic period was 3319 which decreased to 3309 and 3272 g in the following periods. Excluding stillbirth and preterm, all other outcomes differed significantly between the three periods. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) (17–19%) and maternal hypertension (9.2–11%) appeared to increase. Compared to the pre-epidemic period, the odds of macrosomia and LGA significantly decreased in the second epidemic cohort (adjusted ORs: 0.76 and 0.8), while the odds of low birth weight (LBW) and small gestation age (SGA) increased (ORs: 1.25 and 1.16). The odds of neonatal asphyxia (OR: 1.4), and hypertension (OR: 1.29) appeared to increase in the second epidemic cohort, while GDM decreased in the first cohort (OR: 0.88) and increased in the second cohort (OR: 1.15). Vaginal delivery underwent a marginal decrease in both the first and second epidemic cohorts (ORs: 0.89 and 0.92). Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic may have had a substantial and long-term impact on non-infected pregnant women and newborns. Our research results provided precious research information and clinical experience summary for population health research in the future.

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