Pregnancy Outcome of SARS-Cov-2 Infection on Newborns and Infants – A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

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Abstract Background The impact of coronavirus disease (COVID -19) on maternal and newborn health is unclear so there is a great need to understand the effects of maternal COVID-19 infection on birth outcomes. Aim of the Work This study aimed to provide evidence using a systematic review and meta-analysis on the impact COVID-19 during pregnancy on neonates and infants. Patients and Methods The study included published case-control studies, case report studies, and retrospective case follow-up evaluating the COVID-19 infection in pregnancy and its effect on newborns and infants. A total of 429 studies were evaluated and only 61 met the eligibility criteria for data extraction and data analysis. Of these, 30 studies were used in meta-analysis and underwent quality assessment and bias evaluation. Results Fourteen studies were included detecting preterm labor event among cases with and without COVID-19 and showed significantly higher preterm labour among pregnant women with COVID-19 than without with p-value at < 0.0001. Eleven studies were included detecting NICU admission event among cases with and without COVID-19 which showed significantly higher NICU admission among pregnant women with COVID-19 than without with p-value at < 0.0001 while 4 studies were included detecting stillbirth admission event among cases with and without COVID-19 which showed insignificant differences of still births between the two groups with p-value at 0.6786, and 8 studies were included detecting Intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR)\ low birth weight admission event among cases with and without COVID-19 that showed insignificant differences of IUGR/ low birth weight between the two groups at p-value 0.1822. Conclusion COVID-19 infection in pregnant women has an impact on several neonatal outcomes, such as, preterm delivery, oxygen therapy, intubation, and NICU admission, but it does not significantly affect low birth weight, neonatal mortality, IUFD and stillbirth.