Overview
- The analysis of more than 18,000 births in the Mass General Brigham system from March 2020 to May 2021 found that 861 mothers had confirmed COVID-19 during pregnancy and 140 of their children received a neurodevelopment diagnosis by age three.
- After adjustment, offspring of infected mothers had about a 1.3 times higher risk of neurodevelopmental diagnoses, with overall rates exceeding 16% versus less than 10% in the unexposed group.
- Autism diagnoses were about 2.7% among exposed children compared with roughly 1.1% among unexposed, and risk signals were stronger for boys and for infections occurring in the third trimester.
- Authors and outside experts stressed the observational design does not prove causation and noted key maternal factors such as obesity, hypertension and gestational diabetes were not controlled, which could confound results.
- Because about 93% of mothers in the cohort were unvaccinated, experts urged studies including vaccinated populations, and professional groups like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists continue to recommend COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy.