Limited data are available on pregnant women with COVID-19 and their neonates. We aimed to evaluate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of newborns born to women infected with COVID-19. A multicenter cohort study was conducted among newborns born to mothers with COVID-19 in 34 neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in Turkey. Pregnant women ( n = 125) who had a positive RT-PCR test and their newborns were enrolled. Cesarean section, prematurity, and low-birthweight infant rates were 71.2%, 26.4%, and 12.8%, respectively. Eight of 125 mothers (6.4%) were admitted to an intensive care unit for mechanical ventilation, among whom six died (4.8%). Majority of the newborns (86.4%) were followed in isolation rooms in the NICU. Four of 120 newborns (3.3%) had a positive RT-PCR test result. Although samples taken on the first day were negative, one neonate became positive on the second day and the other two on the fifth day. Sample from deep tracheal aspirate was positive on the first day in an intubated case. Conclusion : COVID-19 in pregnant women has important impacts on perinatal and neonatal outcomes. Maternal mortality, higher rates of preterm birth and cesarean section, suspected risk of vertical transmission, and low rate of breastfeeding show that family support should be a part of the care in the NICU. Trial registration : ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04401540 What is Known: • The common property of previous reports was the conclusions on maternal outcomes, rather than neonatal outcomes. • Published data showed similar outcomes between COVID-19 pregnant women and others. What is New: • Higher maternal mortality, higher rates of preterm birth and cesarean section, suspected risk of vertical transmission especially in a case with deep tracheal aspiration during the intubation, and the possible role of maternal disease severity on the outcomes are remarkable findings of this study. • In contrast to recommendation for breastfeeding, parents’ preference to formula and expressed breast milk due to anxiety and lack of information shows that family support should be a part of the care in the NICU.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety disorders are common in women. This sensitivity extends into the perinatal period as well. Thus, screening for anxiety disorders during the aforementioned period is important for the proper management and treatment of conditions. This study was conducted to assess the validity and reliability of the Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale, which was determined to be beneficial for the purposes listed above. METHOD: For this study, the "Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale" (PASS) was translated into Turkish and relabelled "Perinatal Anksiyete Tarama Ölçeği" (PASS-TR). 312 perinatal women were then evaluated with: the ICD 10 diagnosis system, SCID-1, the Hamilton Anxiety Scale, Hamilton Depression Scale, Beck Anxiety Scale, and PASS-TR. The resulting data was examined using Pearson Correlation analysis, Reliability tests, ROC analysis, and Factor analysis. The generated sub-dimensions were reexamined again by confirmatory factor analysis and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), Root Mean Square Residual (RMR), Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) χ 2 /sd, the Goodness of Fit Index (GFI), Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index (AGFI), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC), and the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC). RESULTS: In this assessment, Cronbach's Alpha value for the scale is = 0.95, and the subdimensions obtained by explanatory factor analysis are: (1) general anxiety and specific fear, (2) perfectionism and control, (3) social anxiety and adjustment disorder, (4) acute anxiety and trauma. The cutoff score for the scale is 16. As a result, it was determined that PASS-TR is an accurate method for the scanning of anxiety disorders in the perinatal period. CONCLUSION: PASS-TR can be validly and reliably used to scan for anxiety disorders amongst perinatal women.

Background: Data concerning the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the female genital system is scarce; however, this information is important for understanding whether the virus can transmit sexually or from mother to child. The aim of this study was to investigate whether pregnant women with COVID-19 have virus in their lower genital tract. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we present an analysis of prospectively gathered data collected at a single tertiary university hospital from 19 April to 19 May 2020. We included 13 pregnant women hospitalized with suspected COVID-19. Results of laboratory tests, imaging tests, and nucleic acid tests on vaginal swabs for SARS-CoV-2 were also analyzed for pregnant women with a clinical diagnosis of COVID-19. Results: Twelve pregnant women with confirmed COVID-19 were included in this study. Mean age was 32 ± 7.9 years. All patients had mild symptoms and were followed in the maternity ward, with none of them needing critical care unit follow-up. All lower genital tract samples were negative for SARS-CoV-2. Conclusion: We demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 was not present in the vaginal fluid of pregnant women. This finding may indicate that the female genital tract is not a route of SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

We aimed to measure the effect of several potential risk factors on first trimester miscarriage. A total of 169 cases were included in the present study. Patients were selected from women who had first trimester miscarriage (n = 78) and controls were selected from the women who had given birth at term (> 37 weeks of gestation) to healthy infants (n = 91). Compared with the control group, in the miscarriage group gestational age (8.9 ± 2.8 weeks and 8.1 ± 2.2 weeks, respectively, P = 0.032), mean platelet volume (MPV) (8.8 ± 1 and 9.5 ± 1.1 fl, respectively, P < 0.001), plateletcrit (0.209 ± 0.03% and 0.241 ± 0.05%, respectively, P < 0.001), and platelet/lymphocyte ratio (128 ± 37 and 145 ± 60, respectively, P = 0.027) were significantly higher. Multivariate analysis showed that first trimester miscarriage development ratio was 1.909 times higher when MPV value was over 9.1 fl (P < 0.001); 9.147 times higher when plateletcrit value was over 0.219% (P = 0.022). Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to determine diagnostic MPV and plateletcrit values for first trimester miscarriage. MPV value greater than 9.1 fl determined miscarriage with 60% sensitivity and 65% specificity, while plateletcrit value greater than 0.219% determined miscarriage with 64.5% sensitivity and 64.7% specificity. MPV and plateletcrit values were strongly associated with first trimester miscarriage. Platelet indices can be used for prediction of fetal loss.

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