The medical community in India is concerned that the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is affecting more pregnant women in the second wave. Pregnant women are being infected at a much higher rate than last year, according to doctors.
During the second wave, 148 pregnant women with infection were admitted to one of Ahmedabad's major hospitals. Nineteen of them, or 13 percent, died as a result of the infection. In comparison, the first wave had a 0.3 percent mortality rate, with only one of the 359 admitted pregnant women dying.
According to Dr. Sushma Shah, head of the gynaecology department at SVP Hospital, the second wave was characterised by increased infectivity and increased lung complications. “It was brutal for pregnant women. Most suffered from irreversible lung damage, sepsis, myocarditis, and kidney complications,” she said.
In other cities, the fatality rate of pregnant women with positivity was 2.8 percent (nine deaths out of 312 cases) at New Civil Hospital and SMIMER in Surat, which rose to 23 percent as 19 out of 84 women died from the pandemic. The new Covid variant and late hospitalisation were cited as primary reasons by Dr. Sarla Bhatia.
Dr. Ashish Gokhale, head of the gynaecology and obstetrics department at SSG Hospital, says that while vaccination is not recommended for pregnant women, women who are planning a pregnancy or undergoing infertility treatment should not be afraid to get vaccinated.
