Oman: 70 pregnant women hospitalised due to COVID-19
A total of 70 pregnant women have been hospitalised due to being infected with COVID-19 in Oman, with nine of them in intensive care, local media reported.
According to reports, there are three critical cases who went into premature labour to improve their response to treatment, but no deaths among the 70 cases have been reported so far.
Dr Moza Abdullah Al Suliamani, Director of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the Royal Hospital, said that three critical cases include one that who was in the 24th week of pregnancy and the foetus died. The other two cases were of 28-week of pregnancy and the premature newborns were admitted to the NICU.
However, due to changes in their bodies and immune system, pregnant women can be badly affected by some respiratory infections. It is therefore important that they take precautions to protect themselves against the virus, and report possible symptoms (including fever, cough, or breathing difficulty) to their healthcare provider.
However, there is no evidence to date that a pregnant woman with the disease can pass the virus to her foetus or baby during pregnancy or delivery. The active virus, though, has not been found in samples of amniotic fluid or breast milk, according to the WHO.
