Pregnancy and COVID-19: What You Need to Know

Pregnancy and COVID-19 can be a challenging combination. While in general, your overall risk of getting severely ill is low, your chances of getting severely ill from COVID-19 are higher while you’re pregnant. You are also at risk for about 42 days afterward giving birth.

Pregnant people who have COVID-19 with symptoms are more likely than non-pregnant people who have COVID-19 to need treatment in an intensive care unit, need a ventilator to help with breathing, or to die from the disease. In addition, pregnant people with COVID-19 are also at increased risk for delivering the baby earlier than 37 weeks and might be at increased risk for other poor pregnancy outcomes.

If you’re exposed to the virus, call your doctor and let them know what happened. They’ll probably tell you to watch for signs of illness such as a fever or a cough. If you get these symptoms, call your doctor about getting tested for COVID.

How do I keep myself and my baby as safe as possible? You can keep safe by getting vaccinated. Experts say the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine outweigh any known or potential risks of the vaccine during pregnancy. The mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech) is safe before and during pregnancy.

Should I take any extra steps to protect myself besides the ones the CDC and state and local government recommend for everyone? There’s no evidence that pregnancy makes you any more likely to get coronavirus. Still, it’s a serious threat to everyone. You should take all the recommended steps to avoiding getting sick.