AN INCREASED NUMBER of pregnant women in NI who have tested positive for Covid-19 have required hospital treatment including ventilation in recent weeks. 

A statement from the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust said its services have treated 12 pregnant patients who have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past week. 

“Covid is affecting capacity issues because babies with the virus have to be isolated for 10 days after they are born,” the statement said. 

“Unvaccinated pregnant women are more likely to get Covid and if they become infected, they are more likely to become unwell.

“If pregnant women become unwell due to Covid, they are more likely to need admission to hospital and require additional respiratory (breathing) support.”

The Trust said pregnant women are requiring ventilation “with the majority being hospitalised in their third trimester, over 26 weeks”. 

Pregnancy means an expectant mother’s lung capacity is already reduced, and Covid then further increases pressure on the lungs. We have recently had to arrange preterm delivery for a number of women. 

“In these instances, their babies required admission to the neonatal intensive care unit.” 

Six babies are in isolation at the moment in such circumstances, the Belfast Trust said. 

“Pregnant women who are worried about the safety of the jab can speak to their midwife, GP or hospital consultant who will be able to provide the most up-to-date scientific position on Covid-19 vaccines,” the statement said. 

Maternity outpatient manager with the Northern Health Trust, Louisa Lapworth, said unvaccinated pregnant women have required additional supports after contracting Covid-19 in the last few weeks. 

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“Across the province and across the UK in the last few weeks, we’ve seen ladies that have been required to come into hospital for extra support, typically in that third trimester,” she told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.

“Ladies who are unvaccinated and become [Covid-19] positive are requiring additional support in terms of their breathing and that can impact sometimes on baby.”

She said there are “myths out there regarding this vaccine” and encouraged women to “speak to their health professionals to look at the evidence-based research that’s out there”. 

Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast this morning, the HSE CEO Paul Reid said these instances are a “really somber reminder” about Covid-19 cases in pregnant women. 

He said instances of pregnant women requiring ventilation after contracting Covid-19 are risks “we’re trying to protect against”.