A study conducted in Scotland discovered that unvaccinated pregnant women had more complications from getting COVID-19 than those who were vaccinated, CBS News reported.
These findings were published in the journal. “Nature Medicine,”The complications experienced by pregnant women and their infants when they were not vaccinated were much more severe than for those who had been vaccinated. But, vaccination rates for pregnant women are still lower than those in the general population.
“We really want to advocate for clear and consistent public health messaging and that’s so that doctors and midwives and health care professionals can give the right advice to women,”Dr. Sarah Stock is one of the authors of this study.
“This advice needs to go out to partners and parents and grandparents and friends, so people can recognize that vaccination in pregnancy is the safest and most effective way for pregnant women to protect themselves and their babies.”
Scientists analyzed data from nearly 150,000 pregnancies from March 2020 to October 2021 alongside data from PCR tests and vaccination status.
4,950 pregnant women from Scotland had been diagnosed with COVID-19 infected between Dec. 2020-2021. Approximately 90% of those infections were linked to hospital admissions. According to the journal, 98.1% of 104 cases that ended in critical care were not vaccinated.
Women with COVID-19 had a higher rate of perinatal deaths.
As of October 2021, only 32% of women in Scotland had gotten both doses of the vaccine, according to the study, while 77% of non-pregnant women in the same age range had not been.
“The key take-home message that we’d love to get across is that, really, the best way to protect both mother and baby is vaccination at the earliest opportunity,”Reporters were told by Dr. Aziz Sheikh.