ORLANDO, Fla. – Pregnant women testing positive for the coronavirus are at an increased risk for preterm birth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
CDC officials said the overall risk of severe illness is low, but pregnant women are at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19 compared to women who are not pregnant.
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The CDC classifies a severe COVID-19 illness as someone who ends up hospitalized, ends up in intensive care or ends up needing a ventilator to help them breathe.
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Health officials said pregnant women are at an increased risk for other poor pregnancy outcomes.
Anyone who has constant interaction with someone who is pregnant should be vaccinated, according to the CDC.
“We want to encourage pregnant women to think about vaccination,” AdventHealth Orlando Chief Medical Officer Dr. Victor Herrera said in late July. “Again, we don’t know yet if this is related to the delta variant, but clearly there is a higher number of pregnant women very sick with COVID-19 right now compared to before.”
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According to the CDC, there is no evidence that any of the available COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility or impact a woman’s menstrual cycles.
In late July, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine said COVID-19 vaccines are safe during pregnancy.
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