Supported by BREATHE – the health data research Hub for respiratory health – and the Data and Connectivity National Core Study, the study used data from the ‘COVID-19 in Pregnancy in Scotland Study’ (COPS) database which includes all women aged 11-55 who were known to be pregnant in Scotland between 1 January 2015 and the present day.

Linking this to infection and hospital data, the team found the risk of a COVID-19 infection impacting the health of pregnant women or their babies was very low, but that the risk was lower for pregnant women infected in the Omicron period (0.3% pregnancies) than in the Delta period (1.8% pregnancies).

The authors said, “Understanding the impact of Omicron and any future variants in pregnancy is important to inform appropriate public health measures to prevent infection in pregnant populations.

“Updated information is also crucial to inform policy around maternity and neonatal care provision, for example, for guidance on partners attending hospital and provision of assisted reproduction treatments for unvaccinated women.”

Read a plain English summary of the work

Read the full paper