COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy does not increase complications around the time of childbirth, study finds


COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy does not increase complications around the time of childbirth, study finds

Researchers have found that receiving a COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy does not lead to increases in the frequency of complications around the time of childbirth. The findings, which are published in JAMA, provide further assurances about the safety of mRNA vaccines for this particularly unique population.

Lead author Dr. Deshayne Fell led the study of nearly 100,000 pregnancies by analyzing data from BORN Ontario (Ontario’s provincial birth registry), which is linked to the province’s COVID-19 immunization database.

While analyzing childbirths between December 2020 and September 2021, Dr. Fell found:

“There is increasing evidence from studies around the world showing that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy is not associated with poor pregnancy or birth outcomes, and showing that COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing COVID-19 in pregnant mothers and also in their babies in the first few months of life.” says Dr. Fell, an Associate Professor in the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine and a Scientist at the CHEO Research Institute.

Vaccination against COVID-19 is recommended for pregnant individuals since they are at a higher risk of complications from the disease, including hospitalization, ICU admission and death, compared with nonpregnant individuals. COVID-19 during pregnancy has also been linked with increased risks of pregnancy complications such as preterm birth of the babies.


Story Source:
Materials provided by University of Ottawa. The original text of this story is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  • Deshayne B. Fell, Tavleen Dhinsa, Gillian D. Alton, Eszter Török, Sheryll Dimanlig-Cruz, Annette K. Regan, Ann E. Sprague, Sarah A. Buchan, Jeffrey C. Kwong, Sarah E. Wilson, Siri E. Håberg, Christopher A. Gravel, Kumanan Wilson, Darine El-Chaâr, Mark C. Walker, Jon Barrett, Shannon E. MacDonald, Nannette Okun, Prakesh S. Shah, Shelley D. Dougan, Sandra Dunn, Lise Bisnaire. Association of COVID-19 Vaccination in Pregnancy With Adverse Peripartum Outcomes. JAMA, 2022; DOI: 10.1001/jama.2022.4255