The researchers noted that their study “did not demonstrate an increased risk of significant birth defects in children whose mothers had COVID or were vaccinated against COVID during the first trimester” of pregnancy.
It is known that infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus is associated with an increased risk of complications during pregnancy or childbirth, such as premature birth.
However, it is largely unknown what the consequences may be in terms of malformations in newborns.
It is also important to determine the potential consequences of vaccination against Covid, in light of the widespread medical recommendations for pregnant women to receive this vaccine.
The results of the study, published in the British Medical Journal and conducted based on a large database from Denmark, Norway and Sweden, were reassuring on both sides.
The researchers studied the cases of nearly 350,000 children born between 2020, at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, and 2022.
About 5 percent of these children were born with abnormalities described as major, covering a very wide range from heart defects to problems with the eyes or reproductive organs.
This percentage did not show a significant difference among mothers infected with Covid or who received the vaccine during the first three months of pregnancy, compared to other women.
The first three months were chosen as the reference period because they are the most important for fetal development.
The researchers concluded that these results “provide new evidence to support the claim that vaccination of pregnant women is safe.”
