Coronavirus Covid-19: The position of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology on conception and pregnancy
In view of the rising number of people infected with Covid-19 and its rapid spread everywhere, the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) confirms its recommendation to follow national, continuously updated measures for dealing with the infection.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the USA considers that there is no clear evidence of negative effects on the early stages of pregnancy from Covid-19 infection.
- There are several reported cases of women who were infected but gave birth to healthy children not infected with the virus. [1]
- There are also several cases of adverse neonatal outcomes in newborns of women infected with SARS-Covid19 during their pregnancy, but the data are limited. [2]
- There is a publication about an infected newborn, but there is no clear evidence of vertical transmission – from mother to baby. [3]
These data, although encouraging, result from a small number of studied cases and should be interpreted with caution, as they concern pregnancies at an advanced stage. There is still no information on the possible effects of Covid-19 infection in the early stages of pregnancy. Nevertheless, in view of the above considerations and the possible maternal and neonatal complications resulting from coronavirus infection (such as SARS), the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) recommends increased caution, as patients in a serious condition may need to take medication that is incompatible with the normal course of pregnancy.[4]
As a precautionary measure, and in line with other scientific associations in reproductive medicine, we advise all patients who are considering or planning fertility treatment to postpone it until the epidemic wave has passed. For patients who are already undergoing treatment, we recommend freezing the eggs or embryos obtained and transferring them later.
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The team of Adella Fertility Clinic follows the latest scientific research and publications on COVID-19 and pregnancy daily, and at this stage has no clear data on a correlation between coronavirus infection and the development of the embryo/foetus.
The virus has not yet been sufficiently studied in cell cultures, and no infected patients in the early stages of pregnancy have been observed. There are very few women in late pregnancy for whom data and follow-up are available. Sufficient time must certainly pass to study the cellular mechanisms by which the virus may affect embryos or embryonic tissue.
One thing is certain: like any infection, COVID-19 affects the blood count, general metabolism, the body's homeostasis, hormone levels, recovery processes, body tone, etc. Our specialists support ESHRE's statement that this period is not the best time to conceive and recommend freezing embryos rather than transferring them.
[1]https://www.archivesofpathology.org/doi/10.5858/arpa.2020-0901-SA
[2]4. Liu Y, Chen H, Tang K, Guo Y. Clinical manifestations and outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy. J Infection 2020; doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2020.02.028
[3]7. Liang H, Acharya G. Novel corona virus disease (COVID-19) in pregnancy: What clinical recommendations to follow? AOGS 2020; doi.org/10.1111/aogs.13836
[4]8. Schwartz DA, Graham AL. Potential and maternal infant outcomes from coronavirus 2019-nCoV (SARS-CV2) infecting pregnant women: Lessons from SARS, MERS, and other coronavirus infection. Viruses 2020; doi.org/10.3390/v12020194
