Even a mild corona infection can sometimes be fatal for the unborn baby in pregnant women, researchers at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam believe.
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They have established that the mothers of thirteen babies who died in the abdomen before birth had a corona infection, confirms gynecologist Sam Schoenmakers after reporting by the newspaper. Volkskrant.
The mothers’ placentas had been destroyed by the infection, explains Schoenmakers. The supply of oxygen and nutrients to the unborn child was therefore compromised. “We think it has to do with the Delta variant. We have not seen this before,” says the gynaecologist. He adds advice to pregnant women: “Get vaccinated. If you don’t get corona, you won’t get this either.” All 13 mothers who lost their babies were unvaccinated.
‘More extensive research’
Gynecologists and obstetricians also give this advice, since vaccination significantly reduces the risk of serious illness from the virus. Professional association NVOG, which represents gynecologists, thinks it is too early to make statements about the magnitude of the risk of the rare condition that the Rotterdam researchers report on. “More extensive research is needed for that.”
The US health service CDC has recently published figures on the risk of death of the baby if the mother becomes infected. According to the CDC, that chance nearly doubles. American mothers without corona have a 0.64 percent risk of the death of their child. After a corona infection, that risk rises to 1.26 percent. Specifically for the Delta variant, the CDC saw even greater risks: between July and September, when Delta was dominant in the US as in the Netherlands, the number of stillbirths rose to 2.7 percent.
Scientific magazine
Schoenmakers is still working on a publication in a scientific journal. He also wants to conduct further research, including by collecting data at home and abroad. The thirteen deceased children came from the regions around Rotterdam, Utrecht and Leiden.
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The devastating effect that corona can have on the placenta must be determined afterwards, says the gynecologist. “Unfortunately, we cannot determine the condition of the placenta during pregnancy.”
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