Dubai: A total of 70 pregnant women have been hospitalised due to being infected with COVID-19 in Oman, with nine of them in intensive care, local media reported.
According to senior health official, there are three critical cases who went into premature labour to improve their response to treatment, but no deaths among the 70 cases have been reported so far.
Dr Moza Abdullah Al Suliamani, Director of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the Royal Hospital, said that three critical cases include one that who was in the 24th week of pregnancy and the foetus died. The other two cases were of 28-week of pregnancy and the premature newborns were admitted to the NICU.
In a statement, Dr Moza said, “Pregnant women being infected with COVID-19 is as usual as the rest of the community,” adding that the WHO made it clear there was no evidence that the pregnant women are at higher risk of severe illness than the other patients.
However, due to changes in their bodies and immune system, pregnant women can be badly affected by some respiratory infections. It is therefore important that they take precautions to protect themselves against the virus, and report possible symptoms (including fever, cough, or breathing difficulty) to their healthcare provider.
The doctor affirmed that most pregnant women had mild COVID-19 symptoms. Mothers have recovered and no neonatal deaths were recorded till now. She pointed out, “Most COVID-19 admissions at the Royal Hospital were that of high-risk pregnancy and they got infected from the husband or one of family members. Unfortunately, the effect of deteriorating maternal health and complications will be on the mother and the foetus in case of infection.”
Dr Al Suliamani outlined that, unfortunately, the department faces some challenges like some pregnant women not disclosing infections in their families before being admitted or contacting other patients and health staff, which expands the range of danger. Hence, all pregnant women are urged to report to the staff any case of COVID-19 in their family, or themselves. The WHO suggests, pregnant women with symptoms of COVID-19 should be prioritised for testing. If they have it, they may need specialised care.
However, there is no evidence to date that a pregnant woman with the disease can pass the virus to her foetus or baby during pregnancy or delivery. The active virus, though, has not been found in samples of amniotic fluid or breast milk, according to the WHO.
