Many countries recommend covid-19 vaccination during pregnancy, which has been shown to be effective against covid-19 in pregnant individuals as well as their newborns; however, vaccine coverage among pregnant individuals remains lower than among women of reproductive age.

Researchers assessed the risk of preterm birth, low height for gestational age of birth and stillbirth after being vaccinated against Covid-19.

Among 85,162 births, 43,099 (50.6%) occurred in individuals who received one dose or more of a Covid-19 vaccine during pregnancy -42,979 (99.7%) received an mRNA vaccine.

Vaccination during pregnancy was not associated with any increased risk of overall preterm birth (6.5% among vaccinated v 6.9% among unvaccinated; adjusted hazard ratio 1.02, 95% confidence interval 0.96 to 1.08), spontaneous preterm birth (3.7% v 4.4%; 0.96, 0.90 to 1.03), or very preterm birth (0.59% v 0.89%; 0.80, 0.67 to 0.95).

Specialists pointed out there was also no increase in the risk of spontaneous preterm birth (3.7% vs 4.4%) or very preterm birth (0.59% vs 0.89%). Nor was there an increased risk of being small for gestational age of birth (9.1% vs. 9.2%) or stillbirth (0.25% vs. 0.44%).

Covid-19 infection during pregnancy is linked to an increased risk of complications, including hospital admission and death in pregnant women, as well as premature birth and stillbirth.

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