Complications in Pregnant Women and Newborns Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: One of the high-risk groups exposed to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was pregnant women at risk of pregnancy complications due to a weakened immune system and inability to use various drugs to treat COVID-19. Accordingly, this study was conducted to investigate the complications in pregnancy before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on all pregnant women in Shahroud, Iran. The time interval from February 18, 2019, to February 17, 2020, was considered before the COVID-19 pandemic and from February 18, 2020, to February 17, 2021, was considered the COVID-19 pandemic. Sampling was conducted by census and included 6851 pregnant women. The required information was extracted from hospitals' health deputy registration system and high-risk pregnancy registration program. Result: Based on the findings, hypertension disorder, gestational diabetes, placental abruption, pre-eclampsia, cesarean section, hospitalization in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), preterm birth, and hospitalization in other hospital wards increased by 1.88%, 1.93%, 0.12%, 0.45%, 5.45%, 1.00%, 1.20%, and 1.40%, respectively, in 2020 compared to 2019. A statistically significant difference was also observed between them ( Conclusions: Pregnancy complications have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, there is a need to take appropriate health and medical measures to reduce the risks associated with the COVID-19 epidemic for pregnant women and neonates.