With the rise of Delta variants targeting this group at a new alarming rate, increasing their need for protection, COVID vaccination for pregnant women is more urgent than ever.
Hospitals in the southern states of the United States report that the number of critically ill pregnant women infected with COVID-19 has increased dramatically.
Dr. Akila Subramaniam, Associate Professor, Department of Maternal and Fetal Medicine, University of Alabama, Birmingham, Tell NBC News Both she and her colleagues predict that the number of pregnant women hospitalized due to COVID will triple or even quadruple.
Subramaniam said: “We have never seen a woman with such a serious illness.”
Other health officials have seen similar trends in their hospitals.
Dr. Todd Rice, director of the Nashville Vanderbilt Medical Intensive Care Unit, told NBC that their ICU noticed that the patient was “deteriorating faster.”
“They went from needing a little oxygen to sacred [expletive], They need a lot of support,” Rice said.
There are many reasons why pregnant women may be severely hit by COVID-19 in recent weeks, but health experts report that the increase in hospitalization is mainly due to unvaccinated people. According to the CDC, Only about 22% of pregnant women are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
According to a recent study, expectant mothers diagnosed with COVID are 40% more likely to give birth prematurely University of California Irvine Health Research. Their ICU occupancy rate, intubation rate and mortality rate are also higher.
In Texas, a pregnant woman died of complications from COVID-19, only a few days away from her child August 15. At 9 months of pregnancy, 32-year-old Paige Ruiz tested positive for the virus and had to undergo an emergency caesarean section. Her daughter succeeded, but Ruiz’s COVID-19 complications worsened and she died before she could hold the newborn.
“I wish I was vaccinated,” Ruiz told her mother.
Her mother Robin Zinsu, tell us Ruiz was not vaccinated because he was worried that it would harm her child.
On August 11, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new data on the safety of COVID-19 vaccination for pregnant women. They report that all people who are pregnant or who are considering pregnancy and breastfeeding people can be safely vaccinated.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement: “The vaccine is safe and effective when we are faced with the highly contagious Delta variant and see COVID in unvaccinated pregnant women. With the severe consequences of -19, increasing vaccination has never been so urgent.” statement.
Released by American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and Society of Maternal and Fetal Medicine (SMFM) A statement In late July, “Enthusiastically recommend vaccination” during pregnancy.
“Vaccination against COVID-19 is the best way to reduce the mother-to-child complications of COVID-19 in pregnant women,” SMFM Chairman William Grobman said in a joint statement.
As of Wednesday, the U.S. cracked down on 170,000 new COVID-19 cases, There are more than 95,000 coronavirus patients hospitalized nationwide.
Photo: RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP via Getty Images
