Introduction
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and resulted in an ongoing pandemic. On March 19, 2020, the Israeli government declared a national state of emergency and starting at April 12, Israelis were obligated to wear a face mask. Mask-wearing over the mouth and nose creates a hard-to-ventilate space which might accumulates CO2 and induces a relative hypoxia1. Hypoxia stimulates erythropoietin secretion, leading to red blood cell production in the bone marrow and therefore elevated hemoglobin levels2. Although there is a debate regarding the impact of hypoxia on other hematologic parameters, when examining long term hypoxia exposure, prior research has found an elevated fibrinogen levels and lower platelets levels3.
Currently, governments formulate regulations in order to suppress the spread of the COVID-19, and a better understanding of these regulations consequences is required. The hematological impact of wearing a mask during the COVID-19 era is understudied. In this study, we aimed to underline the association of oxygen deprivation caused by mask-wearing and parturient hematologic and obstetrical outcomes.