Risk factors and outcomes associated with COVID-19 among pregnant women seen at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo State, Nigeria: A pilot study

Export Objective: Studies on factors associated with coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) infection among pregnant women, especially in rural communities, are limited. The aim of the study was to investigate the risk factors and outcomes associated with COVID-19 among pregnant women. Methods: The hospital record-based case–control study involved all pregnant women with a COVID-19 positive test (39 patients) and randomly selected 305 pregnant women with no clinical evidence of COVID-19 seen at the antenatal clinic and labor wards of the hospital between June 2020 and June 2021. Data on potential risk factors, maternal and fetal outcomes were abstracted from hospital records. Unconditional logistics regression based on Statistical software for Social Sciences version 20 was used to explore the relationship between potential risk factors, maternal outcomes, fetal outcomes, and COVID-19 in pregnancy while adjusting for available confounders. Results: Increased body mass index (odds ratio [OR] 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02, 1.28), high body weight (≥86kg versus <75kg: OR 3.55, 95% CI: 1.26, 10.00), high parity (OR 1.35, 95% CI: 1.08, 1.70) significantly increased the risk COVID-19 infection. Admission into special baby care unit was significantly higher for babies with COVID-19 positive mothers than for those of COVID-19 negative mothers (OR 3.23, 95% CI: 1.40, 7.46), while other maternal and fetal outcomes were not significantly associated with COVID-19 in pregnancy. Conclusions: The pilot study, in addition to providing the basis for further investigation, potentially suggests the need to prioritize preventive care for overweight and multiparous pregnant women as well as the need to strengthen the capacity of pediatric units for future response to COVID-19.