Team: LA Magee (Dept Women and Children’s Health, KCL), E Castillo (Depts Med & Obstet, U Calgary, Canada), SA Silverio (Dept Women and Children’s Health, KCL), LE Carson (Dept Psychological Med, IoPPN, KCL), A Easter (Section for Women’s Mental Health, IoPPN, KCL), M Chandiramani (Dept Obst Gynaecol, GSTT), N Kametas (Dept Obstet Gynaecol, KCH), L Poston (Dept Women and Children’s Health, KCL), P von Dadelszen (Dept Women and Children’s Health, KCL).
Summary: The risk for pregnant women infected with COVID-19 remains unknown, however other coronaviruses (SARS & MERS) and pandemic influenza are risk factors for maternal morbidity & mortality. The UK government has classed pregnant women as a high-risk group. There are reports of preterm birth [PTB] and stillbirth associated with severe maternal illness, however the causes are unclear and may be secondary to an evolving cytokine storm associated with severe illness, or iatrogenic in light of maternal clinical deterioration. Co-morbidities remain unexplored although outside of pregnancy, hypertension is reported to be a risk factor for COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality. The aim of this project is to understand how COVID-19 interacts with hypertension and other mental and physical co-morbidities during pregnancy, to evaluate the influence of the virus on the risk of adverse maternal and fetal/newborn outcomes, and to describe the lived experience of this unique population and their care-providers during this pandemic. The team will obtain pregnancy outcome information on cases and controls from KCL’s eLIXIR (early-LIfe data cross-LInkage in Research) research platform that uniquely links clinical records from pregnant women, infants, and children with health record data from across services: maternity, neonatal, mental health, and primary care.