Study claims Covid vaccines caused less pre-term births among mothers

As scientists and world leaders grappled to save humanity from an evident apocalypse during the height of Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, widespread vaccine misinformation only served to worsen matters. Coronavirus jabs were linked to a myriad of terrifying issues ranging from infertility, sterility, premature deaths to alien transformation.

It is little wonder then that most people took the jabs with a pinch of salt while others avoided the shots altogether. A new study, however, shows that Covid-19 vaccines may have actually saved thousands of lives by preventing premature births in expectant women who were infected with the deadly virus.

The jabs reduced the risk of pre-term births by 78 per cent, as illustrated by scientists based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the United States. Pre-term births, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) refer to babies who are born alive before completion of 37 weeks of pregnancy.

The gestation period, defined as the average length of pregnancy, lasts 40 weeks, although a foetus stays in the womb for about 38 weeks. Experts explain that the gestation period is calculated from the first day a woman had her last period and not the conception date which usually occurs after two weeks.

Owing to the weakened immune system during pregnancy, expectant women are most susceptible to severe infections. To arrive at the findings, the researchers led by Jenna Nobles, a sociologist, examined data on recorded births up to 2022 from 2014 (a spike was detected in 2020 at the height of the global pandemic).
During the initial stages of Covid-19 pandemic, the survey found chances of preterm births to be higher by around 60 per cent in pregnant women infected with the virus compared to mothers-to-be who were not infected.

In 2020, the risk of premature births rose by 12.3 per cent up to 78 per cent in pregnant women infected with Covid-19 before the emergence of the Delta strain in 2021, which was more severe, where the cases soared by 4.1.

Coronavirus was linked to a surge in pre-term births since it could trigger immune system overreaction also known as the “cytokine storm” which causes the body to attack healthy tissues. Stress from coronavirus infection and inflammation was also attributed to increased risk of premature births.

However, with the entrance of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the scientists observed a drop in the rate of preterm births back to the levels before Covid-19. Spirited campaigns to administer shots and the start of a milder variant, Omicron, also saw cases of premature births reduced to the levels before the pandemic.

Compared to regions with low vaccine uptake, the rate of pre-term births decreased earlier by one year in those with higher immunisation uptake among pregnant women infected with coronavirus, according to the study. “There is a speedy decline of excess premature birth cases in regions where vaccine rates are highest,” the research read in part.

“Coronavirus infection during pregnancy in these populations had no impact on the risk of preterm births. In areas where the uptake of vaccines is minimal, it takes longer by about a year to happen that way.” The report titled Born Too Soon: Decade of Action indicates that, out of 1,46 million babies born in 2020 in Kenya, 127,500 were pre-term. Kenya is one of the countries where preterm births are moderately high with cases less than 10 per cent.

The report – released in Cape Town, South Africa – lists Malawi at the top with the highest premature births in Africa followed by South Africa at 14.5 per cent and 13 per cent respectively. Cases of preterm births soared by 563,000 in 2020 compared to those recorded in 2010.

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