COVID Infection During Pregnancy Can Cause Brain Injury to Newborns, Study Finds

April 8th, 2023

Awake Goy

A University of Miami research project found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus breached a mother’s placenta and caused brain damage to two newborn babies.
The study (pdf)—dubbed “Maternal SARS-CoV-2, Placental Changes and Brain Injury in Two Neonates”—was published in the Journal of Pediatrics on April 6 and is the first case report to confirm cross-placental COVID-19 transmission leading to brain injury in newborns.
Doctors previously had suspected this was possible, but until now, there was no direct evidence of the virus in a mother’s placenta or an infant’s brain, researchers said at a news conference this week.
“This is the first time that we’ve been able to demonstrate the virus in a fetal organ with transplacental passage,” Dr. Michael Paidas, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Miami, told the briefing. “That’s why we think this is so important.”… Source