Covid-19 poses eight times higher risk of adverse maternal outcomes for pregnant women, a recent study found.

Among pregnant women who contracted Covid-19, 46 percent had adverse maternal outcomes, while it was only 5.3 percent among Covid-negative expecting mothers, according to the study, which was shared at an event at National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine (NIPSOM) yesterday.

The adverse outcomes among Covid-positive women include preterm (before 37 weeks) delivery, stillbirth and ectopic pregnancy.

NIPSOM carried out the study on 215 Covid-positive and 675 negative pregnant women -- aged 15 to 45 -- in five hospitals of Dhaka between April 2020 and April 2021.

More than half the women were aged 24 to 35, while the average age was around 26 years, according to NIPSOM.

According to the study, 62.8 percent of those who were Covid-positive  and had prior health complications developed adverse outcomes, while it was only 7.4 percent in the case of those who were Covid-negative with similar complications.

"The study findings indicate that there is a link between adverse maternal outcomes and Covid-19. So, we have to be more careful about pregnant women and their treatment if they contract Covid-19," said Prof  Sameena Chowdhury, former president of Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society of Bangladesh, at the event.

The study also found that a coronavirus-infected pregnant woman has 1.2 times higher chance of undergoing caesarean section than one who is uninfected. However, the death rate among Covid-positive pregnant women was insignificant; only one woman died during the study.

Lokman Hossain Mian, senior secretary of the health ministry's health services division, attended the event as chief guest, while Prof Ahmedul Kabir, additional director general of DGHS, was special guest.