COVID vaccine in early pregnancy not tied to birth defects

Maternal COVID-19 vaccination in early pregnancy is not associated with fetal abnormalities detectable on ultrasound, finds a study yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics.The retrospective study, conducted by Northwestern University and Penn State College of Medicine researchers, used electronic medical records to identify any link between COVID-19 vaccination in early pregnancy and the risk of major fetal structural abnormalities on ultrasound.Major structural fetal abnormalities were defined as those identifiable on ultrasound in the second semester (18 to 24 weeks' gestation) that may affect the newborn's life expectancy, health, or functioning.

Examples included malformation of the heart or spine. Functional defects were excluded from the study because they can't be assessed using ultrasound, the researchers said."If the baby's heart isn't forming correctly, that could lead to the baby needing major cardiac surgery or long-term medication," senior author Emily Miller, MD, MPH, said in a Northwestern University news release."However, if the ultrasound identified extra fluid in the fetus' kidney, that might end up fixing itself down the road.

We looked for those extremes and everything in between."Similar findings among unvaccinated, vaccinatedA total of 3,156 pregnant women with vaccination records had a 19-week ultrasound from March through November 2021 at Northwestern Medicine Prentice Women's Hospital.

Average patient age was 33.4 years, 83.1% had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose from 30 days before conception to 14 weeks' gestation, and 43.8% were unvaccinated as of 14 weeks.Among the 534 unvaccinated patients, ultrasound showed a fetal abnormality in 5.1%, compared with 4.2% among the 2,622 who had received at