Coronavirus and pregnancy in Italy: results of the national
population-based cohort study coordinated by the Italian Obstetric
Surveillance System
Abstract
Objectives To describe a cohort of Italian women with confirmed COVID-19
infection admitted during pregnancy for out or inpatient hospital care,
in order to provide rapid feedback for clinicians and policymakers.
Design National population-based cohort study. Setting 297 Italian
public and private maternity units. Population Pregnant women with
COVID-19 infection confirmed by RT-PCR testing through nasopharyngeal
swab and/or chest RX or CT findings and/or antibody response from
maternal blood. Exclusion criteria: age <18 years, refusal to
participate and inability to give consent to participation. Methods A
network of 351 trained reference clinicians enrols eligible women after
acquiring an informed consent and completes a data entry form through a
secure web-based system. Main outcome measures COVID-19 pneumonia,
invasive respiratory support, ICU admission, women’s severe morbidity
and mortality Results Over 80% of the 65 cases occurred in Northern
Italy. Women’s mean age is 33.8 years. Gestational age at presentation
is ≤14 weeks in 15.6% of the cases, 15-27 weeks in 51.6% and ≥28 weeks
in 32.8% women. Pneumonia affects 41.5% of the cohort; three women
have severe complications and are admitted to ICU. None has died.
Conclusions The study describes the course of COVID-19 infection in a
cohort of pregnant women, providing valuable information to improve
clinical and logistical management of these cases. Questions arising
from the study deserve further research.