Births of pregnant women with covid triple those of the entire pandemic in Aragon in the last month

75% of mothers are asymptomatic, the positive test is usually detected when doing a PCR after entering to give birth and there is no contagion to the baby.

The wave of the omicron variant of coronavirus infections have multiplied in the last month in Aragon, a situation that has also been reflected among pregnant women who have given birth. Aragonese hospitals have attended to more Covid births than at any other time during the pandemic. Even Aragon's first baby this year was born from a covid birth, after the mother found out in the same hospital that she was positive.

On Miguel Servet Hospital In Zaragoza there are about 300 or 310 births a month and in January 43 were to pregnant women who had tested positive for covid, according to data collected by the hospital. "If we compare them with the pandemic figures since March 2020, one month has almost multiplied by three what we had had until now," explains Sergio Castán, head of Obstetrics at the Zaragoza hospital.

Antigen test and PCR

In many cases the mother comes without knowing that she is positive, since she does not have symptoms. "Many have found out when we have screened them since the majority, 75%, are asymptomatic", details the specialist. The head of the Delivery Room at the same hospital, Dr. Belén Rodríguez, explains that since there has been an increase in cases "as the result of a PCR is delayed, we also do an antigen test." In this way, pregnant women with covid are separated from those who are not infected upon admission. "There are two circuits to minimize the risk of contagion in the hospital environment for those who are negative," she details.

He warns that pregnancy is a "fertile ground" for covid infection because one has less respiratory capacity since "the diaphragm is elevated because the uterus is larger." In addition, the thromboembolic risk is increased, which already normally increases during pregnancy. Hence recommend vaccination at any time during pregnancy, including the third or booster dose. At the beginning of the inoculation of the vaccines, we waited for there to be studies among the group of pregnant women and began advising it after a few weeks, but later it became generalized. Some mothers, when in doubt, decided to wait and others chose to get vaccinated. Rodríguez, also a member of the Aragon Gynecology and Obstetrics Association (AGOA), recognizes that some pregnant women are still "afraid", despite the fact that the recommendations in favor of vaccination are already clear.

As for the babies, "no fetus has been infected in utero", says Castán, despite the fact that the mother has tested positive. Infections have occurred "later, when she has been in her house, through airborne transmission." He remembers that "antibodies from vaccination are also transferred to the fetus." His colleague agrees that "there has been no positive newborn PCR test."

In this last month they have had some serious cases such as a patient who ended up admitted to the ICU, who had to do an emergency cesarean section with an extremely premature baby.

In the case of Lozano Blesa Clinical Hospital, in December there were 153 births, 13 of them with positive mothers. However, the increase in January has meant that 35 births of positive mothers out of the 101 attended. The average increase would be around 20% or 30%. From the Health Department of the Government of Aragon they point out that analyzing the data by month, the growth in January has followed "the same pattern as the general incidence, which has been very high since the end of the year." 

On Barbastro Hospital, a week before the end of January there had been 39 births, of which 10 had been to mothers infected with covid. In Huesca capital, since January 1, around 20% of births were to positive mothers.

Special protocol

In cases where a pregnant woman tests positive for covid, a special protocol is put in place, which each center adapts. It is common for all to have a double circuit so that positive mothers do not coincide with those who are not infected and to increase ventilation in the room. Health personnel who care for positive pregnant women, as with the rest of covid patients, must do so with the personal protective equipment (PPE).