J Korean Med Sci.  2021 Oct;36(41):e290. 10.3346/jkms.2021.36.e290.

Maternal Outcomes and Clinical Characteristics of COVID-19 in Korean Pregnant Women during the Early Period of the Pandemic

Affiliations
  • 1Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
  • 2Department of Biostatistics, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
  • 3Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA

Abstract

The present study aimed to compare the clinical characteristics and outcomes between pregnant women and non-pregnant women of childbearing age (20–49 years old) diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the initial stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Korea. This nationwide observational study included the information of COVID-19 patients collected by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency from January 2020 to April 2021. Among 5,647 COVID-19 patients, 2,444 (43.3%) were women of childbearing age and 19 were pregnant. None of the pregnant women died. However, 4 deaths occurred among non-pregnant women aged 20–49 years. None of the 19 pregnant women with COVID-19 were admitted to the intensive care unit: they were admitted to the general ward, and none of them required supplemental oxygen. In conclusion, none of the pregnant women with COVID-19 experienced severe infection or death, unlike non-pregnant women of childbearing age.

Keyword

COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Pregnancy

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