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Irish health officials are investigating whether four cases of stillbirths are linked to the coronavirus outbreak, the country’s deputy chief medical officer Ronan Glynn said on Thursday.
At a press conference in Dublin, Glynn said that “four preliminary reports of stillbirths potentially associated with a disease called Covid placentis” had been found by authorities.
According to the medical examiners who reported the cases, the pregnant women tested positive for the coronavirus and then gave birth to a stillborn baby whose cause of death was an infection of the placenta.
“More research needs to be done” before the results can be confirmed, Glynn said, adding that he couldn’t “give too many details as there aren’t many more at this point” as coroners don’t had not concluded their conclusions.
Covid Placentitis is “a concern” but “very rare,” he said. The condition is noted in women who have had positive coronavirus tests before having a stillbirth.
“We haven’t seen a high incidence of it internationally, and we don’t expect to see a high incidence here,” Glynn told reporters.
In a statement, Dr Cliona Murphy, president of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said a small number of cases were “scientifically studied”.
“It is important that pregnant women who test positive with Covid attend appointments with their healthcare providers in the weeks following infection,” Murphy said.
“The vast majority of pregnant women who have had Covid have had mild symptoms and have not had any adverse results. Large-scale surveillance data in the UK did not show a higher incidence of stillbirth.
“Pregnant women in priority groups can get vaccinated. US data regarding COVID vaccines during pregnancy is reassuring,” she added.
“We are starting to see the impact of COVID vaccines which, with the restrictions, reduce the incidence of COVID-19 infections in the community, which will be protective for pregnant women.”
According to the latest official figures, the Republic of Ireland has recorded 4,396 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic. The country is currently in the middle of its third lockdown after suffering the world’s highest per capita infection rate in early January.
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