Pregnancy and COVID—Complications and its Challenges: A Case Series from a Tertiary Care Center in the Northeastern Part of India

Abstract

The objective was to describe the course of management of all the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-positive pregnant women, admitted to a 150-bedded tertiary care center in Guwahati, Assam, from March 01, 2021, till June 15, 2021. We collected a case series of 13 COVID-19-positive pregnant women, mostly in their second and third trimesters, admitted to our center between March 01, 2021, and June 15, 2021. All of the cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection were confirmed by a positive result on real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests. We aimed to show the course of management and maternal outcomes in these cases. The Results show that among the 13 infected pregnant women, three presented with severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia and were treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) and the rest were treated in wards as the mild category and discharged successfully. Two among them required invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), and one was managed on non-invasive ventilation (NIV). Of the two mechanically ventilated patients, one succumbed to the illness and the other patient was successfully weaned in 5 days and shifted out after 15 days of the ICU stay. The third patient was on NIV support for 7 days, weaned off to low-flow oxygen therapy via face mask/ nasal prongs, and shifted out after 17 days of the ICU stay. Data on pregnant women with coronavirus infection are scarce and contradictory as the effect of SARS-CoV-2 on pregnancy is not clear. It is highly important to systemically investigate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of pregnant women with COVID-19 to provide strong guidelines for prevention, treatment, and management.

Keywords

• invasive ventilation
• non-invasive ventilation
• oxygen therapy
• pregnancy
• severe sars-cov-2 pneumonia