COVID-19 modulates pregnancy outcomes

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed many pregnant individuals to SARS-CoV-2. Literature suggests a link between gestational COVID-19 and adverse gestational outcomes. However, among all the factors that could impact pregnancy, COVID-19 is not the sole determinant, mainly in vulnerable populations. We hypothesized that COVID-19 could act as a moderator of some environmental exposures and pregnancy outcomes. To investigate this, our sample consisted of 120 pregnant individuals with or without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection (moderator) and delivery complications (outcome). eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) was used to select the exposures from fifteen variables: trait and state anxiety, perceived stress in the past month, lifetime and gestational stressful events, body mass index, number of prenatal appointments, the violent crime rate in their area, belonging to a marginalized ethnic group, paternal and maternal age, income, education level, and employment. A moderation analysis evaluated whether COVID-19 exerted a moderator effect between the exposures and outcome. XAI showed four variables that were associated with both pregnancy complications and COVID-19: trait anxiety, state anxiety, paternal age, and maternal age. These four variables were set as exposures in moderation analyses where COVID-19 was a moderator and gestation complications were the outcomes. COVID-19 interaction with the exposures was significant. Our research suggests that being infected by SARS-CoV-2 exacerbates the effects of anxiety and parental age on susceptibility to adverse pregnancy outcomes. In other words, COVID-19 is a moderator for these variables, which should be accounted for in future studies. Infection by the virus SARS-CoV-2 causes the COVID-19 disease, which led to a worldwide pandemic. Pregnant people with COVID-19 have an increased risk of delivery complications such as preeclampsia. Other variables, such as mental health, also influence pregnancy outcomes. Our sample showed no significant relationship between COVID-19 and delivery complications. However, COVID-19 interacted with anxiety and parental age to potentiate their effect on delivery complications. We suggest that COVID-19 worsens the challenges for young and anxious parents.