In a study conducted by researchers from Northwestern University, there is evidence of placenta injuries in 16 women who are COVID-19 positive while pregnant. The result of the research now points to another complication that can be brought by the deadly coronavirus.
The research was published on May 22 in the American Journal of Clinical Pathology. Although the study only has 16 women involved, this is the most significant sample for a study that focuses on the health of placentas in women who are COVID-19 positive.
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What happened to the placenta of pregnant women who are COVID-19 positive?
The placenta injury seems to affect the blood flow from the mother to the fetus.
The placenta has a crucial role in the development of a baby. During the development of the fetus, it acts as the liver, kidney, and lungs of the baby. Also, the placenta is responsible for most of the hormonal changes in the pregnant woman's body.
Among the 16 mothers who delivered their babies, 15 gave birth in the third trimester. There was one who had a miscarriage in the second trimester. However, the mother who had the miscarriage was asymptomatic of the coronavirus. According to Dr. Jeffrey Goldstein, a pathologist at Northwestern Medicine, the researchers do not know whether the miscarriage was because of the virus or it was unrelated.
The study also found that 12 of the pregnant women who are COVID-19 positive, developed a type of injury called vascular perfusion. Six of the mothers also had blood clots.
According to Dr. Goldstein, the findings support that the coronavirus could have something that is clot-forming, which occurs in the placenta.
What happened to the babies of pregnant women who are COVID-19 positive and had placenta injury?
Fortunately, all of the babies who were born by mothers in the study tested negative for coronavirus. There was one live-born infant that was premature, while fourteen of the babies were born in full-term and had normal Apgar scores and weights.
One of the co-authors of the study, Emily Miller, said that although the babies tested negative of the coronavirus, the findings on the placenta injury still worries her. Dr. Goldstein added that there should still be something to look out for because of the injury to the placenta. That is because flue does not cross the placenta, but life-long problems like cardiovascular disease can be due to injury to the placenta. This observation was seen during the 1918 to 1919 flu pandemic, which is nowadays compared to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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What are the reminders of experts to all the pregnant women during this pandemic?
The researchers acknowledged that the number of pregnant women in the study is small and that their data is limited. However, Dr. Goldstein says that this should be a validation of the idea that pregnant women should be closely monitored.
According to Miller, pregnant women should be subjected to non-stress tests. This kind of test can help in examining the placenta of a woman.
