Coronavirus and Pregnancy: The Challenges of the 21st Century: A Review

Sumaiya Adam; Carmen Pheiffer; Stephanie Dias; Tsakane Hlongwane; Valerie Vannevel; Priya Soma-Pillay; Fareed Abdullah

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.923546

Coronavirus and Pregnancy: The Challenges of the 21^st Century: A Review

Front Microbiol. 2022 Jul 13:13:923546. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.923546. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Sumaiya Adam^{1

2}, Carmen Pheiffer^{1

3

4}, Stephanie Dias³, Tsakane Hlongwane^{1

2}, Valerie Vannevel², Priya Soma-Pillay^{1

2}, Fareed Abdullah^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
² Research Centre for Maternal, Fetal, Newborn and Child Health Care Strategies, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
³ Biomedical Research and Innovation Platform, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁴ Centre for Cardio-metabolic Research in Africa (CARMA), Division of Medical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁵ Office of AIDS and TB Research, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa.
⁶ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.

Abstract

Despite many advances in medicine we are still faced with emerging pathogens. Pregnant women have been disproportionately affected by previous coronavirus outbreaks. The COVID-19 pandemic has not affected pregnant women as greatly as SARS-CoV and MERS, but has posed other challenges such as the need for quarantine and isolation, limited access to antenatal care, use of personal protective equipment (PPE), vaccine hesitancy and inequities in vaccine access and therapeutics between rich countries and the global south. This review will describe the impact of the significant coronaviruses on pregnancy, with special focus on the challenges being encountered by the SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic.

Keywords: MERS; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; health systems; pregnancy.

Publication types

Review