Overview
- A paper published October 30, 2025 in Obstetrics & Gynecology reports that maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy was associated with a 29% greater risk of a child receiving a neurodevelopmental diagnosis by age three.
- Third-trimester exposure showed larger effects, with a 36% overall increase in risk and a 43% increase among male offspring.
- Absolute rates were higher among exposed children for unspecified speech and language disorders (9.5% vs 4.7%), expressive language disorders (5.3% vs 3.7%), motor function disorders (2.7% vs 1.6%), and autism spectrum disorder (2.7% vs 1.1%).
- Researchers analyzed retrospective electronic health records from two academic medical centers and six community hospitals covering births from March 2020 to May 2021, a period when most pregnant patients were unvaccinated, and all had at least one PCR test.
- The authors emphasized that the results show association rather than causation and recommended long-term developmental monitoring for exposed children, while coverage of the study advocated vaccination in pregnancy to prevent infection.