According to CNN, the SARS-CoV-2 virus, responsible for COVID-19, may attack the placenta in unvaccinated pregnant women and trigger stillbirth or neonatal deaths in babies.
Based on research conducted among women who were positive for the virus, researchers found evidence of injury on the placenta. The placenta is a vital organ in a pregnant woman that serves as the lungs, gut, liver, and kidneys of a fetus during the entire phase of pregnancy.
The placenta is a fetus's lifeline. According to the study published in the journal, Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, the virus can attack or even destroy the placenta, resulting in asphyxiation and stillbirths. The lead researcher, Dr. David Schwartz, expressed concern because the level of destruction to the placenta is alarming in contrast to other infectious illnesses. The placenta fails to perform its role, causing death due to a lack of oxygen in fetuses and newborns.
Compared to infectious diseases like Zika virus, Rubella, or Syphilis, wherein the fetus is attacked, the study found that the placenta of unvaccinated pregnant women infected with COVID-19 is under attack. The researchers examined 68 perinatal deaths across 12 countries, and all deaths were either stillborn or died just within a week after birth.
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Placental Destruction
Based on the research, all 68 placentas had fibrin deposition, which means placental destruction results in the insufficiency of the placenta. Sixty-four were stillborn, and four were neonatal deaths. Researchers also observed severe destruction of the placenta among 63 of these cases, and the tissue involvement was almost at 78 percent. And, 19 out of 30 autopsies conducted showed that there had been intrauterine hypoxia or inadequate oxygen delivery to the tissues, thereby resulting in asphyxia.
Among 28 cases tested, 16 body specimens show that SARS-CoV-2 was present while the four autopsied stillborns had SARS-CoV-2 identified in their internal organs. However, there is no evidence showing that the virus's involvement or presence in the fetus or baby was the cause of death. The malperfusion or the loss of blood supply to vital organs of the placenta resulted in intrauterine or perinatal deaths.
Vaccination and Pregnancy during COVID-19
In the latter part of 2021, reports of states in America that had low vaccination rates among pregnant women had a high trend of infant mortality rates and stillbirths, according to NBC News. What was primarily anecdotal last year has been reinforced with Dr. Schwartz and the team's research.
Evidence surrounding the safety of vaccines to pregnant women and their babies is getting more and more reliable. A separate study shows that there has been no significant difference in risks of preterm birth or low birth weight in comparing babies of vaccinated and unvaccinated mothers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other medical groups and institutions recommend that pregnant women get the COVID-19 vaccine as it is the best way to protect themselves and the babies they are carrying.
