More pregnant women hospitalized with COVID-19

Salt Lake City, Utah — Pregnant women to take “urgent action” in getting the COVID-19 vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

According to the CDC reports, August saw the highest number of COVID-related deaths among pregnant women.

Doctors say they’re seeing more pregnant women hospitalized with COVID-19.

“We’ve seen stillbirths. We’ve seen neo-natal deaths. We’ve seen pre-term births,” said Dr. Sean Esplin who is a maternal-fetal physician who specializes in taking care of patients with high-risk pregnancies with Intermountain Healthcare.

“What the CDC is describing are things that we’re seeing in our own practice,” he said. “And it makes complete sense that we should be more aggressive.”

As of Sept. 18, 31% of pregnant people were fully vaccinated before or during their pregnancy, according to the CDC.

“When we look at our own numbers from July 1 through yesterday and look at people who are delivering in the Intermountain Healthcare system, we’re finding that about only 24% of them have had a complete course of vaccination. About 4% of them have had one dose,” said Esplin.

According to Dr. Leisha Nolen with the state health department, the best way to protect expecting mothers is by getting the vaccine.

“The data shows these women go through and have healthy babies. That there’s not any increase risk of miscarriage, there’s no health birth defects that they’re seeing,” she said.

The Utah Department of Health’s pregnancy risk line, MotherToBaby Utah, is encouraging any expecting mothers who are hesitant about the vaccine to give them a call. To reach a specialist, call 866-626-6847 or 801-328-2229.