Age, health conditions are linked with COVID severity in pregnant womenIncreased age and underlying medical conditions were associated with a greater likelihood for more severe COVID-19 infections in pregnant women, according to a study late last week in Clinical Infectious Diseases.The researchers used the Surveillance for Emerging Threats to Mothers and Babies Network to identify 7,950 pregnant women, 20.9% of whom had moderate-to-severe or critical illness.
Mothers were identified from Mar 29, 2020, to Mar 5, 2021. Most were 20 to 39 years old (91.2%) and had Medicaid (54.5%). About one in three (36.4%) had at least one underlying condition, with the most common being pre-pregnancy obesity (28.2%).