No differences were found between indicators of placental health, birth weights, or well-being outcomes between vaccinated and unvaccinated pregnant women, indicating that the COVID-19 vaccination is safe for use in pregnant women.
Vaccination against COVID-19 has no impact on placental health in pregnant women, according to findings published in a research paper American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
These findings highlight the safety of vaccination during pregnancy for both infants and pregnant women, according to the authors.
Researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital examined 18 indicators of placental health associated with a higher risk of adverse health problems for infants and their mothers to assess the impact of the COVID-19 vaccination beyond maternal outcomes. and infants assessed in previous studies. Indicators of placental health included the presence of lesions, blood clots and inflammation, among others.
They collected data from clinical records on babies’ birth weight and Apgar scores, assessing well-being 1 minute and 5 minutes after birth.
A total of 431 women who delivered singletons at NewYork-Presbyterian Medical Center and Weill Cornell between April 2020 and July 2021 were included in the analysis. Results for 164 women who were fully vaccinated during pregnancy were compared with 267 unvaccinated women.
The vaccinated and unvaccinated groups had similar demographics in terms of maternal age, gestational age at delivery, and mode of delivery. All women in the study had no evidence of current or previous SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Complete vaccination was defined as having received at least 2 doses of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. Of the vaccinated women in this study, 130 received the Pfizer vaccine and 34 received the Moderna vaccine. The mean gestational age was 25.7 weeks for dose 1 and 29 weeks for dose 2.
No significant differences were found in indicators of placental health, birth weight, or Apgar scores between vaccinated and unvaccinated women.
The researchers note that 17.1% of vaccinated women and 26.2% of unvaccinated women had a comorbidity of preeclampsia, hypertension, or intrauterine growth restriction; however, a subanalysis excluding those cases did not change the study’s findings.
Detectable antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 were found in the cord blood of 95% of babies born to vaccinated mothers, as the researchers expected. The authors note that previous studies suggest that vaccinating mothers during pregnancy not only protects them from severe illness from COVID-19, but may also protect their babies for several months after birth.
The authors concluded that their findings add to existing knowledge demonstrating that COVID-19 vaccines are safe during pregnancy.
Reference
The vaccine against COVID-19 does not negatively affect the health of the placenta, the study reveals. ScienceDaily. News Notice. July 22, 2022. Accessed July 25, 2022. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/07/220722123242.htm
