Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that between March 2020 and June of this year, 3,396 pregnant women had contracted Covid-19.

The increase in cases, he said, began in October with an average of 200 cases a month. In May this year, it shot up to 850 cases while 899 cases were recorded in the following month.

“The upward trend in Covid-19 cases among pregnant women was in line with the surge in overall cases,” he said in a statement.

The percentage of pregnant women who required intensive care also rose to 5.3% in August from 3% in July.

Noor Hisham went on to say that as of Aug 9, 70 pregnant women died from Covid-19 complication, adding no such casualties were recorded throughout 2020.

From January to May this year, there were an average of two deaths a month.

“But there was a sudden spike in June with 17 deaths recorded.”

And two of the cases, he said, had received their first dose of the vaccine, while 15 were not vaccinated.

Noor Hisham said 47% of the pregnant women who died also suffered from comorbidities.

He added that according to the World Health Organization (WHO) pregnant mothers were more likely to contract a severe Covid-19 infection and had to be warded in intensive care as they needed invasive ventilation compared with non-pregnant women.

“Severe infections are more likely to occur during the second or third trimester.”

He urged pregnant women to get themselves vaccinated to reduce the risk of complications should they get infected.

Pregnant women, Noor Hisham said, must be fully vaccinated before the third trimester.

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