How Does COVID-19 Affect Maternal, Child Health During Pregnancy?

A multi-site study will examine the health outcomes for pregnant women and their infants before and after childbirth during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The researchers will use integrated, electronic health records and patient-reported outcomes from Penn State Health, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Geisinger Health, and Temple Health to evaluate data from roughly 48,000 expectant mothers from diverse communities within the commonwealth.

‘Interventions that improve health care for mothers and their children during a pandemic like COVID-19 should be developed in the future.’

The goal of this research is to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has, directly and indirectly, affected health outcomes among pregnant women and their children by examining COVID-19 diagnoses, exposure to maternal stress, preterm birth, low birth weight, and maternal and neonatal deaths.

In addition, researchers will survey a sample of 3,400 women to collect data during their pregnancies and at 1, 6, and 12 months postpartum to gauge associations between COVID-19, psychological distress, longer-term maternal health outcomes, and child development.

"How COVID-19 affects families during and after pregnancy are very complex and understudied," said Kristin Sznajder, lead investigator and assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences.

Moreover, this study will examine the potentially uneven burden of the pandemic across communities characterized by race, ethnicity, neighborhood, poverty, education, and maternal mental well-being.

This research builds upon a preliminary study in 2020, which was led by Sznajder, and funded by a grant through the Penn State Huck Institutes for Life Sciences and Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics.

According to the investigators, the current study will contribute to the development of future interventions that could improve health care for mothers and their children during a pandemic.

An external advisory committee, representing top researchers and care providers with expertise in maternal and child health and underserved communities, will support the research team.

Source: Medindia