Clinical characteristics and outcomes for pregnant women diagnosed with COVID-19 disease at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria

INTRODUCTION: the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has challenged health systems around the world. This study was designed to describe the socio-demographic characteristics of pregnant women with COVID-19 infection, the common clinical features at presentation and the pregnancy outcome at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Edo State, Nigeria. METHODS: a cross-sectional analytical study of all confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection from April to September 2020. RESULTS: out of 69 suspected cases that were tested, 19 (28.4%) were confirmed with COVID-19 infection. The common presenting complaints were fever (68.4 %), cough (57.9 %), sore throat (31.6%), malaise (42.1%), loss of taste (26.3%), anosmia (21.1%), and difficulty with breathing (10.6%). In terms of treatment outcome, 57.9% delivered while 36.8% recovered with pregnancy on-going, and 1 (5.3%) maternal death. Of the 11 women who delivered, 45.4% had vaginal deliveries and 54.6 % had Caesarean section. The mean birth weight was 3.1kg and most of the neonates (81.8%) had normal Apgar scores at birth. There was 1 perinatal death from prematurity, birth asphyxia, and intrauterine growth restriction. The commonest diagnosed co-morbidity of pregnancy was preeclampsia and it was significantly associated with severe COVID-19 disease requiring oxygen supplementation (P = 0.028). CONCLUSION: the clinical symptoms of COVID-19 in pregnancy are similar to those described in the non-pregnant population. It did not seem to worsen the maternal or foetal pregnancy outcome. The occurrence of preeclampsia is significantly associated with severe COVID-19 infection requiring respiratory support.