Infants
who were exposed to COVID-19 while still in the womb have different
neurodevelopmental outcomes.
According
to a preliminary investigation presented at the 30th European Congress of
Psychiatry, babies delivered to moms who had COVID-19 illness during pregnancy
have different neurodevelopmental outcomes at 6 weeks.
Dr
Rosa Ayesa Arriola, the project's leader, said: "Although not all kids
born to COVID-infected moms show neurological impairments, our findings
demonstrate that their risk is higher than that of newborns who were not
exposed to COVID in the womb. A larger investigation is needed to confirm the
exact magnitude of the difference "
When
compared to newborns born to non-infected moms, researchers discovered that
babies born to infected mothers had more difficulty relaxing and altering their
bodies when being held. This is especially true when the infection occurs late
in pregnancy. Furthermore, babies delivered to infected mothers have a harder
time controlling their heads and shoulders. COVID-19 may have an influence on
motor function, based on these changes (movement control).
The
findings came from a preliminary assessment of the Spanish COGESTCOV-19
experiment, which tracked the course of pregnancy and child development in
COVID-19-infected mothers. The results on pregnancy and post-natal assessment
will be presented at 6 weeks following birth, but the investigation will
continue to investigate if there are any longer-term impacts. Between the ages
of 18 and 42 months, the researchers will track the verbal and motor
development of infants.
The
first study compared newborns born to 21 COVID-positive pregnant mothers and
their babies to 21 healthy controls at the University Hospital Marqués de
Valdecilla in Santander, Spain. During and after pregnancy, the moms were
subjected to a battery of testing. Hormonal and other biochemical testing
(measuring cortisol levels, immune response, and so on), salivary tests,
movement reactions, and psychological questionnaires were among them. The age,
gender, and other variables of the infants were all taken into account in the
studies.
The
Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS), which analyses the baby's movement
and behaviour, was one of the post-natal exams.
Ms
Gueda Castro Quintas, a researcher at the University of Barcelona's Network
Centre for Biomedical Research in Mental Health, said: "Certain parts of
the NBAS measurement were altered in 6-week-old infants who had been exposed to
the SARS-COV-2 virus, according to the researchers. They react to being hugged
or cuddled in a somewhat different way "
We've
been extra cautious in how we've conducted these testing. Clinicians with
advanced experience in the field and in the tests examined each mother and
infant in detail.
It's
important to stress that these are preliminary findings, but they're part of a
bigger study including 100 moms and their newborns. They were also observed
during pregnancy and after delivery. We also intend to compare the data from
these moms and newborns to that from a comparable initiative (the epi-project),
which investigates the impact of stress and heredity on a child's
neurodevelopment."
We
are still in the early stages of this project. We discovered that newborns
whose mothers had been exposed to COVID showed neurological abnormalities at 6
weeks, but we don't know if these impacts will lead to any long-term problems;
longer-term surveillance may help us figure this out.
Nerea
San Martin González, a co-researcher, added: " "Of course, there are
some characteristics we can't evaluate in kids this early, such as language
skills or cognition. We must also keep in mind that this is a rather small
sample, therefore we are repeating the study and will follow up over a longer
period of time. We need a larger sample size to establish the impact of
infection on neurodevelopmental changes in offspring, as well as the
involvement of other environmental factors. Meanwhile, we must emphasise the
necessity of medical surveillance in order to ensure a safe pregnancy; wherever
possible, communicate any concerns with your doctor "
Dr.
Rosa Ayesa Arriola, the project's leader, commented: This is the ideal time to
form worldwide relationships that will allow us to track children's long-term
neurodevelopment born during the COVID-19 epidemic. In the next years, research
in this sector will be critical in understanding and preventing potential
neurological abnormalities and mental health risks in those children.
Dr
Livio Provenzi (University of Pavia, Italy) remarked in an independent comment:
The direct and indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health and
well-being of parents and infants must be studied. Pregnancy is a phase of life
that determines a lot of our subsequent development, and adversity during
pregnancy can leave biological footprints that last a lifetime. Dr Rosa Ayesa
Arriola's findings support previous evidence of epigenetic changes in infants
born to moms who experienced pandemic-related stress during pregnancy. It
demonstrates the need for greater large-scale, multinational research to better
understand the developmental implications of this public health crisis and to
provide better care to parents and newborns.