COPE - COVID-19 in Pregnancy and Early Childhood

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

biological samples, questionnaires and interviews: Biological samples: to study impact of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy samples taken in routine clinical care, samples from already existing research biobanks and the newly established COPE biobank will be used. Time-points: inclusion, at delivery mother and fetus. Covid-19 positive group only: 48-96 h, 2 months postpartum for mother and fetus. Questionnaires: Women and partners in both groups will fill out electronical questionnaires at different time points during pregnancy and until 12 months postpartum based on validated instruments to test for differences in Self-Efficacy, Anxiety and Depression, Health-related quality of life, Sense of Coherence, PTSD Symptoms, Postpartum Bonding, Childbirth experiences and Self-Efficacy of Breastfeeding. The child's health will be assessed regarding infection until 6 weeks of age and development until 4 years. Interviews: 24-40 women and partners in both groups. Interviews will be conducted 3 to 6 months after childbirth.

Study summary

Purpose: The emergence of a new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 causing a novel infection in the human race resulting in a world-spanning pandemic came as a surprise and at a tremendous cost both for individual human lives as well as for the society and the health care sector. The knowledge on how this new infection affects both the mother and the unborn child as well as the outcomes for the mother and the child in the long run are unknown. What is known is based on case-reports and small case-series solely. Both the coronaviruses causing Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) can cause a threat to pregnant women and their offspring, which leads to the question whether this could be the case also for SARS-CoV-2.

Aims: To establish a biobank of biological material from infected as well as non-infected pregnant women and their offspring. To combine this biobank with Swedish quality and health care registers, computerized patient charts and questionnaire data, enabling both short-term follow up, such as obstetric outcomes, as well as long-term outcomes both for mother and child. To study how the pandemic situation affects both the mother and her partner in their experience of pregnancy, childbirth, and early parenthood.

Design: A national Swedish multicentre study. Women are included when they have a positive test for SARS-CoV-2 or a clinical suspicion of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (COVID-19 group). Pregnant women without COVID-19 symptoms will be included at their routine visits (Screening group). Blood samples and other biological material will be collected at different time-points. Additional predictors and outcomes are collected from the Swedish Pregnancy Register as well as obligatory Swedish health registers. The biobank and its linkage to health registers through the Swedish personal identification number will enable future research. Child development will be followed during the first year of life by questionnaires to the parents. Womens' and their partners' experience of childbirth and parenthood will be studied in form of questionnaires as well as in form of interviews.

Conclusion: This project will help obstetricians and neonatologists better recognize clinical manifestations of the virus, identify possible risk factors during pregnancy and tailor therapies alongside providing right level of surveillance and management during pregnancy, delivery, and child health care.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Biobank with linkage to registers — 1-20 years
  establish a biobank and database with bio-samples from both women that are not tested and presumed healthy as well as possibly ill and women confirmed tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and their infants linked to Swedish health care registers including socio-economic factors and use serological and viral analyses from the biological samples to evaluate maternal, fetal and neonatal outcomes.
• Experiences of pregnancy during a pandemic — 1 year
  study how women and their partners experience pregnancy, childbirth and early parenthood in the COVID-19-pandemic, both for women not tested and for women tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

Trial sites (27)

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