Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40395208›Full record

ArticleBirth defects research2025

COVID-19 Vaccination During Pregnancy and Birth Defects: Results From the CDC COVID-19 Vaccine Pregnancy Registry, United States 2021-2022.

Andrea J Sharma, Jennita Reefhuis, Lauren Head Zauche, Sabrina A Madni, Janet D Cragan, Cynthia A Moore, John F Nahabedian, Christine K Olson, CDC COVID‐19 Vaccine Pregnancy Registry team

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Birth defects research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Neonatal and Infant Health Outcomes Following Maternal COVID-19 Vaccination: CDC's COVID-19 Vaccine Pregnancy Registry.Journal of pediatric health care : official publication of National Association of Pediatric Nurse Associates & Practitioners · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Andrea J SharmaDivision of Healthcare Quality Promotion, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0385-0011
Jennita ReefhuisDivision of Birth Defects and Infant Disorders, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Lauren Head ZaucheDivision of Healthcare Quality Promotion, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Sabrina A MadniDivision of Healthcare Quality Promotion, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Janet D CraganDivision of Birth Defects and Infant Disorders, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Cynthia A MooreDivision of Birth Defects and Infant Disorders, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4224-2692
John F NahabedianEagle Global Scientific, LLC, Texas, USA.
Christine K OlsonDivision of Healthcare Quality Promotion, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
CDC COVID‐19 Vaccine Pregnancy Registry team

Funding

CDC Operating Funds
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWe calculated prevalences of birth defects among infants of participants in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) COVID-19 Vaccine Pregnancy Registry (C19VPR).

methodsC19VPR enrolled women receiving COVID-19 vaccines ≤ 30 days before the last menstrual period or during pregnancy from December 2020 through June 2021. We included 19,931 participants with singleton pregnancies ending ≥ 20 weeks' gestation who did not report COVID-19 illness during pregnancy. Clinicians identified birth defects from participant-reported infant health information up to 4 months after birth. We compared C19VPR birth defect prevalences to published pre-pandemic estimates. For seven defects originating during embryogenesis (cleft lip with/without cleft palate, atrial septal defect, coarctation of the aorta, ventricular septal defect, esophageal atresia or stenosis, hypospadias, kidney agenesis/hypoplasia/dysplasia), we estimated prevalence ratios comparing those vaccinated < 14 weeks' to those vaccinated ≥ 14 weeks' gestation.

resultsParticipants reported receiving Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines (59.0%), Moderna (38.2%), and Janssen (2.8%) vaccines. Most (65.2%) participants received their first COVID-19 vaccine after the first trimester. The prevalence of major birth defects was 3.8%. Among defects with comparator estimates available (n = 50), 35 were below or within expected ranges. C19VPR prevalences were higher than the comparator confidence interval for 15 defects; however, C19VPR confidence intervals included comparator estimates. Prevalences did not differ by the timing of vaccination for seven defects examined.

conclusionsBirth defects prevalence estimates among infants born to women receiving COVID-19 vaccines during or just prior to pregnancy were generally similar to pre-pandemic estimates. While there was no strong evidence of associations between vaccination and specific defects, statistical power was low.

Indexed as

Congenital AbnormalitiesCOVID-19COVID-19 VaccinesPregnancy Complications, InfectiousVaccinationAdultCenters for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.FemaleHumansInfant, NewbornPregnancyPrevalenceRegistriesSARS-CoV-2United StatesYoung AdultCOVID-19 Vaccinesbirth defectscongenital anomaliesCOVID‐19 vaccination in pregnancypregnancyvaccination

Identifiers

PMID40395208
PMCPMC12093198

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.