Saima Faraz

and 5 more

Objective: To assess and compare the Maternal and fetal outcomes of critically ill pregnant women infected with COVID – 19 cases of pneumonia who required admission to the intensive care unit. Design: A retrospective observational study Settings: Tertiary care hospital settings affiliated with an academic center in UAE. Patients and Methods: A total of 123 patients in their third trimester were included from 1 December 2020 to 31 March 2021 in the study with 30 cases of severe or critical COVID and 93 mild to moderate pregnant COVID patients. The maternal demographic, radiological, and biochemical profile of mothers was noted. Maternal and fetal outcomes were compared. Main outcomes Measured: Maternal and fetal outcomes were compared in severe and mild COVID cases. Result: A total of 30 (24.3%) patients were admitted in ICU and eight required invasive ventilation meaning, Severe COVID was significantly associated with higher mortality (20% vs 0% p-value <0.001), postpartum complications (50% vs 9.67% p-value<0.001) and increased overall hospital stay (p-value<0.001). Neonates born to severe COVID patients had significant higher chances of being born preterm (76.6% vs 35.7% p-value<0.001) and have low birth weight (46.6% vs 13.9% p-value=0.002). There were four cases of stillbirth, two cases of vertical transmission, and no neonatal deaths. Conclusion: Pregnant females with severe COVID have high mortality, peripartum complications; and increased hospital stay. The newborns born to such mothers may be premature, have low birth weights but have comparable mortality