Effect of COVID-19 on Pregnancy and Neonate’s Vital Parameters: A Systematic Review

Table 3

Summary of the randomized controlled trials and clinical trials in accordance with PRISMA.

Year of study/the country of study	Authors	Number of participants	Publication aim	Main publication findings
2022/USA	Burwick et al. [40]	Eight participants; six during pregnancy, two in the postpartum period.	Evaluate the use of eculizumab for treatment of severe COVID-19 in pregnant and postpartum adults.	The median number of doses of eculizumab: 2 (range 1–3); the median time to hospital discharge: 5.5 days (range 3–12).; All participants were alive and free of mechanical ventilation at day 29.; No serious adverse maternal or neonatal events attributed to eculizumab at 3 months.
2022/Brazil	Ferrugini et al. [41]	A total of 265 pregnant women included in the study: 38 (14.4%) PCR-positive cases during pregnancy, 12 (31.6%) on admission screening, 71 (27.2%) patients IgM- and/or IgG-positive, 86 (32.4%), and at least one positive test during pregnancy.	Analysis of clinical and obstetric outcomes of pregnant women assisted in a high-risk maternity hospital in Brazil in 2020.	The most frequently reported symptoms: runny nose, cough, loss of smell and taste, headache, and fever.; Rate of asymptomatic infections: 35%; rate of severe or critical infections: 4.6%.; Patients exposed or infected with SARS-CoV-2 had a higher incidence of preterm delivery, caesarean section, need for resuscitation in the delivery room, at 5 min, admission to the neonatal intensive care unit, and jaundice. Newborns with at least one positive test had significantly greater need for phototherapy after delivery ().
2021/Italy	Provenzi et al. [42]	Data from 108 mother-infant dyads.	Assessment of the behavioral and epigenetic vestiges of COVID-19-related prenatal stress exposure in mothers and infants. COVID-19-related prenatal stress at birth. Analysis of SLC6A4 methylation in thirteen CpG sites in mothers and infants’ buccal cells. Analysis of infants’ temperament at 3 months of age.	Greater COVID-19-related prenatal stress significantly associated with higher infants’ SLC6A4 methylation in seven CpG sites.; SLC6A4 methylation at these sites predicted infants’ temperament at 3 months.
2021/Belgium	Colson et al. [43]	The placentas of 31 women infected with COVID-19 in 2019.	Analysis of the placentas of coronavirus disease-positive mothers via reverse transcriptase PCR, immunohistochemistry, and in situ hybridization.	Only one case of placental infection detected, which was associated with intrauterine demise of the foetus.
2021/Italy	Cosma et al. [44]	17 of 164 pregnant women positive for COVID-19.	Study of the SARS-CoV-2 antibody profile in pregnancy, from infection in the first trimester of pregnancy to delivery.	The presence of the same antibodies in arterial cord blood of all the newborns of women who developed IgG antibodies.; Knowledge on the longevity and type of SARS-CoV-2 antibody response.
2020/Turkey	Oncel et al. [45]	125 pregnant women with COVID-19-positive RT-PCR tests and their newborns.	The epidemiological and clinical characteristics of newborns of COVID-19-infected women.	Important impacts of COVID-19 in pregnant women, on perinatal and neonatal outcomes. Eight of 125 mothers (6.4%) admitted to an intensive care unit for mechanical ventilation, higher maternal mortality (4.8%), caesarean section (71.2%), prematurity (26.4%), and low-birthweight infant (12.8%).; 86.4% of the newborns followed in isolation rooms in the NICU.; 3.3% newborns with a positive RT-PCR test result (one neonate positive on the second day, two on the fifth day).; Suspected risk of vertical transmission (deep tracheal aspiration during the intubation, and the possible role of maternal disease severity on the outcomes).