Publications
Effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccines on maternal and perinatal outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis
COVID-19 vaccines are effective in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection and related complications in pregnant women.
- Authors
Keelin O'Donoghue
- Year
- 2024
- Journal Name
- BMJ Global Health
- Category
- Journal Article
- Keywords
- COVID-19
- Full Citation
Fernández-García S, Del Campo-Albendea L, Sambamoorthi D, Sheikh J, Lau K, Osei-Lah N, Ramkumar A, Naidu H, Stoney N, Sundaram P, Sengupta P, Mehta S, Attarde S, Maddock S, Manning M, Meherally Z, Ansari K, Lawson H, Yap M, Kew T, Punnoose A, Knight C, Sadeqa E, Cherian J, Ravi S, Chen W, Walker K, O'Donoghue K, van Wely M, van Leeuwen E, Kostova E, Kunst H, Khalil A, Brizuela V, Kara E, Kim CR, Thorson A, Oladapo OT, Mofenson L, Gottlieb SL, Bonet M, Moss N, Zamora J, Allotey J, Thangaratinam S; PregCOV-19 Living Systematic Review Consortium. Effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccines on maternal and perinatal outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Global Health. 2024;9(4):e014247. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2023-014247.
- Link to Publication
- https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2023-014247
Abstract
We examined all studies published between December 2019 and January 2023 to look at the effects of COVID-19 vaccines in women before or during pregnancy. These searches identified 67 eligible studies, involving 1,813,947 women. Overall, pregnant women fully vaccinated with any COVID-19 vaccine had 61% reduced odds of SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy and 94% reduced odds of hospital admission. For vaccinated pregnant women the risk of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy was reduced by 12%, while caesarean section was reduced by 9%, in the studies that looked at these outcomes. We observed an 8% reduction in the risk of neonatal intensive care unit admission in babies born to vaccinated versus not vaccinated women. In general, vaccination during pregnancy was not associated with increased risk of adverse pregnancy or perinatal outcomes. Pain at the injection site was the most common side effect reported (77%). This study concluded that COVID-19 vaccines are effective in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection and related complications in pregnant women.