الفهرس 
COVID-19 INFECTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Background: The WHO declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a global pandemic in March 2020. Pregnant patients infected with COVID-19 appear to present with similar symptoms as the general population, with chest symptoms like fever and cough being the most common reported symptoms in studies. Risk factors for death and severe disease include obesity, diabetes, and maternal age > 40 years. Women in their third trimester have the highest risk for critical illness, Intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and the need for mechanical ventilation.
Aim of the work: The aim of this study was to assess the incidence rate of Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission after elective caesarian section in pregnant women admitted to Ain Shams University Hospitals with COVID-19 infection during pregnancy.
Methods: After ethical committee approval, this retrospective cohort study was conducted at tertiary care hospitals at Ain Shams University Maternity Hospital from April 2020 to April 2022 and performed on total 20 pregnant women who admitted with COVID-19 during pregnancy documented by Polymerase chain reaction test (PCR) done at Ain shams university hospitals and divided into two groups of pregnant patients; group I: Patients infected or who were infected with COVID-19 during pregnancy and group II: Patients not infected with COVID-19 during pregnancy. Women in both groups underwent elective C-section as mean of delivery and the neonates were followed up for presence or absence of NICU admission.
Results: Fever and cough were the most frequent clinical presentation (80% for each) followed by dyspnea. Birth weight statistically was non-significant among COVID-19 group (p values =0.934), whereas APGAR scores at one and five minutes statistically were non-significant lower among COVID-19 group with no statistically significant differences between the studied groups regarding NICU admission. Maternal age showed statistical significance; being lower in mothers of neonates that needed NICU admission and Respiratory presentations (fever, cough, dyspnea, chest pain and desaturation) statistically were non-significant yet these symptoms were more frequent in mothers of neonates that needed NICU admission. Hemoglobin and Total leucocytic count (TLC) statistically were non-significant lower in mothers of neonates that needed NICU admission. No maternal complications in either group (postpartum hemorrhage, surgical site infection, sepsis) were statistically significant among COVID-19 group and control group
Conclusion: As evident from the current study, there were no significant differences between COVID-19 infected and non-infected pregnant patients according to maternal and neonatal outcomes regarding APGAR score, NICU admission, wound infection, postpartum hemorrhage and sepsis. Consequently, clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in pregnant patients and neonates seem to be similar to those in non-pregnant infected adults.