Despite a study showing that the COVID-19 vaccine reduces stillbirths by 15%, figures show that most pregnant women admitted to British hospitals with the virus are unvaccinated.
Statistics show that more than four in 10 pregnant women are still reluctant to get jabbed, even though catching coronavirus doubles the risk of stillbirth.
The Telegraph reports that a review of 23 studies involving 117,552 women has found the jab to be a benefit to both mother and baby, with vaccination likely to prevent at least 63 stillbirths per 100,000 pregnancies.
Annually, there are around 680,000 births in Britain, so more than 400 babies a year could possibly be saved with a complete vaccine roll-out to pregnant women.
Experts from St Georgeʼs, University of London and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), who carried out the research, urged women to get vaccinated.
Higher risk of severe illness
“This paper is further reassurance that the vaccine is safe in pregnancy,” said Dr Edward Morris, president of the RCOG, “and does not increase the risk of adverse outcomes.”
Britain’s rate of stillbirths is 4.2 in 1,000 but some studies have suggested it can rise to 8.5 per 1,000 for women who catch COVID. Based on that rate, a 15% reduction could lower stillbirths by 72 in 100,000.
The research also shows that vaccination in pregnancy is 90% effective against COVID-19 infection for pregnant women, with no increased risk of adverse outcomes for them or their babies.
Asma Khalil, professor of Obstetrics and Maternal Medicine at St Georgeʼs, University of London and St Georgeʼs Hospital, and senior author on the paper, said: “Our findings should help to address vaccine hesitancy in pregnant women. Most of the data so far have shown the vaccine is safe and protects the mother, but now we have a benefit to the baby as well.”
Study details
Systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness and perinatal outcomes of COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy
Smriti Prasad, Erkan Kalafat, Helena Blakeway, Rosemary Townsend, Pat O’Brien, Edward Morris, Tim Draycott, Shakila Thangaratinam, Kirsty Le Doare, Shamez Ladhani, Peter von Dadelszen, Laura A. Magee, Paul Heath & Asma Khalil.
Published in Nature Communications on 10 May 2022
Abstract
Safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy is a particular concern affecting vaccination uptake by this vulnerable group. Here we evaluated evidence from 23 studies including 117,552 COVID-19 vaccinated pregnant people, almost exclusively with mRNA vaccines. We show that the effectiveness of mRNA vaccination against RT-PCR confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection 7 days after second dose was 89·5% (95% CI 69·0-96·4%, 18,828 vaccinated pregnant people, I2 = 73·9%).
The risk of stillbirth was significantly lower in the vaccinated cohort by 15% (pooled OR 0·85; 95% CI 0·73–0·99, 66,067 vaccinated vs. 424,624 unvaccinated, I2 = 93·9%). There was no evidence of a higher risk of adverse outcomes including miscarriage, earlier gestation at birth, placental abruption, pulmonary embolism, postpartum haemorrhage, maternal death, intensive care unit admission, lower birthweight Z-score, or neonatal intensive care unit admission (p > 0.05 for all). COVID-19 mRNA vaccination in pregnancy appears to be safe and is associated with a reduction in stillbirth.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
COVID doubles perinatal risk in pregnancy – Large Kaiser study
COVID in late pregnancy linked to more complications – University of Edinburgh
COVID increases pregnancy and birth complications — French hospital study