Objective

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the outbreak of which has caused a global pandemic, is spreading rapidly throughout the United States, with major metropolitan areas such as Philadelphia, seeing a dramatic rise in infection rates. Although pregnant women are not affected more severely than nonpregnant patients, 1 a number of obstetrical patients will nevertheless require intensive care similar to their nonpregnant counterparts. Here, we review 5 critical cases of COVID-19 2 during pregnancy, as well as general management principles.

Study Design

This was a retrospective, multicenter case series of symptomatic pregnant women who had a positive result for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) testing and required critical care.

Results

The clinical courses of 5 pregnant women with severe cases of COVID-19 disease, all requiring mechanical ventilation, are described below and summarized in the Table. Testing for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 was done through a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test of a nasopharyngeal swab unless otherwise specified.