This is a summary, written by members of the CITF Secretariat, of:

Canadian Surveillance of COVID-19 in Pregnancy : Epidemiology, Maternal and Infant Outcomes, Report #6, posted at https://med-fom-ridprogram.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2023/11/CANCOVIDPreg_Report6_13Sep2023_FINAL_updated.pdf

The results and/or conclusions contained in the research do not necessarily reflect the views of all CITF members.

The 6th report (to December 2022) from the CITF-funded Canadian Surveillance of COVID-19 in Pregnancy (CANCOVID-Preg) project showed a decline since December 2021 in intensive care unit admissions and hospitalizations for pregnant people diagnosed with COVID-19. The findings from this report highlight the value of vaccination efforts in pregnancy to reduce the risk of severe disease and to provide increased protection to the newborn. The compilation of this report was led by Dr. Deborah Money (University of British Columbia).

In this report, CANCOVID-Preg monitored disease severity in vaccinated (2+ doses) and unvaccinated pregnant people over time and in nine provinces and territories. Data abstraction was ongoing at the time of writing, so this report summarizes data obtained from March 3, 2020, to December 31, 2022.

Key findings:

  • Rates of hospitalization declined from a peak of 7.6% in the Delta era to 2% in the Omicron era, while intensive care unit (ICU) admission declined from 2.2% to 0.1%.
  • Preterm birth and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission rates were similar in the pre-Delta, Delta, and Omicron variant periods of the pandemic.
  • Risks of hospitalization (RR, 0.26), ICU admission (RR, 0.10), preterm birth (RR, 0.86), and NICU admission (RR, 0.87) were significantly lower for those with two or more vaccinations compared to the unvaccinated.
  • Rates of stillbirth (0.6%) were in keeping with those in the general population (0.8%).