Boys had a 43% higher risk than girls, with the highest risk (36%) when exposed in the third trimester of pregnancy. Other risk factors included Hispanic race, public insurance, preterm birth, and giving birth at an academic medical center rather than a community hospital.
The most common diagnoses were language impairment, developmental motor dysfunction, autism, and psychodevelopmental disorder. COVID-19 infection during pregnancy was associated with higher rates of preterm birth (13.5% vs. 10.0%) and slightly lower birth weight.
“These findings highlight that COVID-19, like many other infections during pregnancy, poses risks not only to the mother but also to the brain development of the fetus,” said Dr. Andrea Edlow, of Mass General Brigham. press release. “They also support the importance of efforts to prevent COVID-19 infection during pregnancy and are particularly relevant at a time when public trust in vaccines, including the COVID-19 vaccine, is eroding.”
Lead author Lydia Shook, MD, said parents should be aware of the potential negative neurodevelopmental outcomes following COVID-19 infection during pregnancy. “By understanding the risks, parents can properly advocate for their children to receive appropriate evaluation and support.”
The risk may decrease over time.
But Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP, a news publisher of CIDRAP), cautioned that the findings may not apply today, as the risk of other immune-related clinical events seen in early COVID-19 cases, such as myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), has plummeted.
