Israeli doctors looking into corona’s effect on pregnant women after tragic death

Pregnant women have been affected by the most recent wave of coronavirus.

By David Isaac, World Israel News

Following the tragic death of a newborn delivered by caesarean section to a mother struggling with Covid-19 on Saturday in Jerusalem, and a number of similar recent cases, Israeli doctors are looking into whether they are facing a new phenomenon of Covid’s effect on pregnant women, website N12 reports on Tuesday.

It’s the fourth case in a week in which a mother with corona gave birth and is in a deteriorating condition.

The other cases, fortunately, have not ended tragically, but the circumstances are the same. On Monday night, it was decided to move a pregnant corona patient, 35, from one hospital to another due to her condition, intubate her and deliver the baby via caesarean section. The woman was in the 34th week of pregnancy. The baby is in stable condition.

Dr. Ilya Kagan, Corona Intensive Care Manager at Beilinson Hospital, where the pregnant woman was transferred, said, “The mother’s condition is very difficult and unstable. She is in real mortal danger and we are fighting for her life.”

The husband of another woman, 33, who was also transferred to Beilinson on Thursday asked people to pray for his wife and premature newborn. The baby was delivered on Friday but weighs only 199 grams (7 oz.), the Jerusalem Post reports.

The woman contracted coronavirus and after an X-ray of her lungs, ad the doctors decided they needed to perform a caesarean. The husband said his wife was healthy, with no pre-existing conditions.

Israel’s Corona czar, Prof. Nachman Ash, told Israel Army Radio on Tuesday, “We are examining whether the morbidity of pregnant women is a new phenomenon or whether there is something that sets these women apart. We will also examine the connection to the mutation.”

Prof. Arnon Wiznitzer, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Beilinson, said, “This is a more violent and severe wave of corona than its predecessors, and it also affects the young population of pregnant women.”

“We have dealt with around 150 pregnant women from March until now,” he said.