Over 100 million pregnant people worldwide remain at risk of COVID-19. We compared the prevalence of severe COVID-19 in pregnancy and in people of reproductive age, and the risk of adverse pregnancy\/neonatal outcomes in those with\/without COVID-19 during gestation. In the Canadian Mother\u2013Child Cohort, two sub-cohorts were identified using medical services, prescription medication fillings, hospitalizations, and COVID-19 surveillance testing programs data (28 February 2020\u20132021). The first included all pregnant people with at least one completed trimester of pregnancy during the study period, stratified on COVID-19 status. The second included all non-pregnant people (aged 15\u201345) with a positive COVID-19 test during the same period. COVID-19 severity was categorized based on hospital admissions before the end of pregnancy. Associations between COVID-19 during pregnancy and adverse perinatal outcomes were quantified using log-binomial regressions. A total of 150,345 pregnant people (3464 (2.3%) had COVID-19), and 112,073 non-pregnant people with COVID-19 were included. Maternal age at the time of COVID-19 diagnosis\/positive test was statistically significantly lower among pregnant individuals compared to those who were not pregnant (96% had less than 40 years vs. 80%, p < 0.001). In pregnancy, COVID-19 was associated with the risk of spontaneous abortions (adjRR 1.76, 95%CI 1.37, 2.25), gestational diabetes (adjRR 1.52, 95%CI 1.18, 1.97), prematurity (adjRR 1.30, 95%CI 1.01, 1.67), and NICU (adjRR 1.32, 95%CI 1.10, 1.59); COVID-19 treatment with medications reduced risks. Severe COVID-19 was more prevalent in pregnancy and was associated with higher risks of adverse maternal\/neonatal outcomes. As some countries are pulling back preventive strategies for COVID-19, this study highlights the importance of continued surveillance during pregnancy to prevent adverse pregnancy outcomes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over 100 million pregnant people worldwide remain at risk of COVID-19. We compared the prevalence of severe COVID-19 in pregnancy and in people of reproductive age, and the risk of adverse pregnancy\/neonatal outcomes in those with\/without COVID-19 during gestation. In the Canadian Mother\u2013Child Cohort, two sub-cohorts were identified using medical services, prescription medication fillings, hospitalizations, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","migration-helper-automated":[],"migration-manual":[],"topic":[39,26,35],"migration-helper-qa-sample-set":[],"class_list":["post-22933","journal_article","type-journal_article","status-publish","hentry","topic-infectious-diseases","topic-maternity-and-neonatal-care","topic-public-health"],"acf":{"citation":"B\u00e9rard A, Sheehy O, Kaul P, Eltonsy S, Walker M, Hawken S, Bernatsky S, Pugliese M, Barrett O, Savu A, Dragan R. Int J Environ Res Public Health<\/em>. 2025; 22(11): 1756.","source_url":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijerph22111756","ices_scientist":[1260],"site":[6734],"research_program":[6740],"news_release":"","journal_article":"","atlas":"","research_report":"","infographic":"","video":"","downloads":null,"links":null,"sitecore_item_id":"","sitecore_item_name":"","sitecore_field_values":"","previous_url":""},"yoast_head":"\n