IMPACT OF COVID SITUATION ON PRETERM BIRTH, BIRTH WEIGHT, MODE OF DELIVERY AND MATERNAL CO-MORBIDITIES AT CHATTOGRAM

Abstract

COVID -19 was first reported in Bangladesh in March 2020. Since then, 1,952,939 COVID cases have been reported, 29,127 cases of death and 1,898,603 have been recovered as of May 14, 2022. Preterm birth has an enormous effect on mother, family and finance. Many studies worldwide show either there is stability or reduction or increase of preterm birth during this pandemic. This study was performed on total 713 live births from 28 to 42 weeks of gestational age where 257 cases were from the pre-COVID time (June 2019-December 2019) and 456 cases were from COVID time (June 2020-December 2020). The cases admitted to Bangabandhu Memorial Hospital, Foy’s Lake, Chattogram at Gynae and Obstetrics ward were considered in the study. Babies with intrauterine death (IUD), stillbirth, dilation and curettage (D and C), ectopic pregnancy, blighted ovum and threatened abortion were excluded from the analysis. Data were obtained from hospital registered records. Preterm birth rate was 20% in pre -COVID time and 21% during COVID time. It was observed that there was no significant relation on term and preterm birth between pre-COVID and COVID time. Additionally, the rate of LUCS has increased from 61% to 73% during COVID time, while NVD decreased from 39% to 27%. The birth weight distributions were observed to be consistent in both study periods. Mothers of newborns with additional complexities (Diabetes Mellitus (DM), Hypertension (HTN), Premature Rupture of Membrane (PROM), Bronchial Asthma (BA), Hypothyroidism, Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) and Twin Pregnancy) were also considered in this study. Mothers with DM, HTN and PROM were observed to experience more preterm birth subsequently 44%, 50% and 100% during COVID time than pre-COVID period when the percentage were 20%, 37% and 70% consequently