Methods
We included 224 pregnant women in our case-control study. The case group
consisted of 75 women with SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy,
irrespective of the severity of the symptoms. We included all SARS-CoV-2
positive women who were managed at our tertiary referral hospital
between May 2020 and July 2021. Data from these individuals were
collected prospectively within the international COVI-Preg register
[15]. Cases were matched 1:2 with a historical cohort of women who
delivered before the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic between 01.01.2016 and
31.10.2019, based on parity, body mass index (BMI) and ethnicity. In one
woman, only one matching control was found, so that the control group
consisted of 149 individuals. Screening for GDM by 75mg oral glucose
tolerance test (OGTT) was performed at 26 weeks’ gestation in all 224
women. Normal blood sugar values were defined as follows: fasting
< 5,1mmol/l, one hour after glucose ingestion <
10mmol/l, two hours after glucose ingestion < 8,5mmol/l. All
women where OGTT was not available were previously excluded.
First trimester was defined as conception to 13 + 6 weeks, second
trimester from 14 + 0 to 26 + 6 weeks and third trimester as more than
27 + 0 weeks of gestation.
Diagnosis of COVID-19 infection in the case group was made by
identification of SARS-CoV-2-PCR in a nasopharyngeal swab.
At birth, clinical data on maternal and fetal outcomes were collected.
Written informed consent and institutional review board approval were
obtained (2020-00832). The study was performed in accordance with the
principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.
No external funding was received for performing this study.