Comparing the Growth and Development of Six Months Infants between the Mothers With/Without Covid-19 during Their Pregnancy

Viral infection during pregnancy induces pro-inflammatory cytokines and increases the level of IL-6, which as a measure of the inflammation of the mother's immune system is effective on the development of the brain of the fetus and increases the rate of mental disorders of the fetus. The possible effect of the mother's COVID-19 on children, if any, is still unknown. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of investigating and comparing the consequences of neurodevelopment and growth at the age of 6 months in infants among mothers with/without exposure to COVID-19 during pregnancy in Birjand, 2021.

A total of 161 pregnant women with PCR-positive coronavirus and 181 pregnant women without infection were selected by simple random sampling. Demographic characteristics including age, occupation, education, gender, nationality, sex of babies, along with data related to the neurodevelopmental status of infants by the use of ASQ questionnaire were extracted and entered into SPSS 16 software. For descriptive statistics, Mean, standard deviation, and frequency distribution tables were used, and inferential analyses were conducted by the use of Chi-square, t-test, and analysis of variance at a significance level of less than 0.05. The disturbance was equal / lower than 1 SD in each of ASQ-3 score domains.

In this cohort study, demographic characteristics in the exposed and unexposed groups were not significantly different. There was no statistically significant difference between the average score of the ASQ_3 questionnaires as well as the average score in the areas of communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem-solving, and social personality among infants born from mothers with and without COVID-19. Also, there was no significant difference in the incidence of disorders in different fields of neurodevelopment, except for the field of establishing communication between the two groups of exposed and unexposed. On the other hand, cesarean delivery was significantly higher in pregnant mothers with COVID-19 during pregnancy. However, there was no significant relationship between the incidence of COVID-19 and the rate of premature delivery, and low birth weight neonates. In addition, the severity and time of the corona infection during pregnancy did not have any significant effect on the neurodevelopment of infants with intrauterine exposure to COVID-19.

According to the results of the study, infection with COVID-19 does not increase the incidence of developmental disorders in 6-month-old infants. Furthermore, it does not increase low