Oslo University Hospital (OUS) has treated a double-digit number of pregnant covid-sick women during the pandemic, and now the number is increasing. – Then you have two patients to treat. It is very demanding, says chief physician Ingvil Krarup Sørbye.
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– We are experiencing an increasing degree of hospitalizations of seriously ill pregnant women. Everyone has been unvaccinated, says Krarup Sørbye at the Women’s Clinic.
The risk of pregnant women developing severe covid-19 is low. Krarup Sørbye says some of the pregnant women have additional factors such as chronic illness and obesity.
She confirms fetal death in recent months as a result of covid infection in her mother.
– We want pregnant women to get vaccinated. Severe covid disease in pregnancy is dangerous for both mother and baby in the womb. We know that many pregnant women are a little reluctant to get vaccinated and think “it’s not that bad with me.” It is rather the opposite: The baby is also in danger if the mother becomes seriously ill, says chief physician Krarup Sørbye.
VG has asked if all the hospitalized pregnant women had underlying diseases. The hospital will not respond, but Krarup Sørbye says that the inpatients “predominantly had additional factors”.
–Early vaccination advice
The pregnant women who become seriously covid-sick and hospitalized are in all phases of the pregnancy, says the superior.
– The most difficult thing is to treat the pregnant woman when the baby in the womb is viable, but there are still several months to the birth. Then you have two patients to treat. It is very demanding, says Ingvil Krarup Sørbye.
She experiences that many of the patients received the early advice from the National Institute of Public Health to avoid vaccination in the first trimester.
– This has led to many women asking themselves why it is ok to get vaccinated later. Our message now is that no studies so far indicate that vaccination is dangerous for the fetus, not even in the first trimester. Vaccination is also not dangerous while trying to get pregnant, says the superior.
Heart and lung machine
Chief physician Jon Henrik Laake at the intensive care unit at OUS Rikshospitalet, has treated several of the sickest pregnant women. He has also treated critically ill pregnant women on a heart and lung machine.
– Neither Norwegian nor international data provide evidence that the vaccine alternatives that are relevant in Norway entail a risk to the mother or fetus. At the same time, we know that pregnant women have an increased risk of serious illness due to infection with SARS-CoV-2, says chief physician Jon Henrik Laake at OUS Rikshospitalet.
He explains that serious infections and respiratory failure in pregnant women can lead to the fetus receiving too little nutrition and oxygen. If the mother is seriously ill with covid-19, the fetus in the womb is exposed to poor blood supply because the placenta does not work properly.
– It is not a special scenario for covid. If a pregnant woman gets blood poisoning, for example, fetal death is a big risk, says Laake.
–Clinic manager at the Emergency Department Øyvind Skraastad, says that pregnant covid patients have been transferred to OUS Rikshospitalet from other hospitals.
– The women this is about are in an age group that has not met clear recommendations for vaccination before they became pregnant. There are young women who did not get a place in the vaccination queue before they became pregnant. They are in the age group from the early twenties to the late thirties. It is absolutely necessary that pregnant women or those who plan to become so, get vaccinated. Then it is a matter of protecting two lives, says Skraastad.
skepticism
The advice from the Norwegian health authorities is that pregnant women should preferably take the vaccine in the second and third trimesters. There are no studies that have shown a negative impact on pregnancy.
– In some areas, pregnant women are very interested in taking the vaccine. Then we see that there are some groups that are more skeptical. I think it is important to provide the information in an understandable way. But for the most part, the pregnant women are positive about taking the vaccine, says political leader Kari Aarø in the Midwives’ Association to VG.
Although the risk of pregnant women developing severe covid-19 is low, the likelihood increases throughout pregnancy. This may be related to the fact that the load on the heart and lungs increases as the fetus grows. No findings have yet been made that indicate that there is an increased risk of taking the vaccine in the first trimester, but here the basis is limited.
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