How Harmful Is Covid-19 and Its Omicron Variant In Pregnancy?

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The Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19, (severe acute
respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) has taken us
all by a storm. The situation is worsening every
day. Medical practitioners and clinicians are
working round-the-clock to fight against this
pandemic with vaccines to yield the efficacy and
halt this pandemic at the earliest possible.
However, this virus has infected over millions of
people across the world and has caused over
million deaths. Pregnancy is one of the most
joyful but equally challenging time in a womans
life. Each pregnancy is unique and so is its set
of challenges and uncertainties. However, and for
mums-to-be bringing a new life in the midst of
the global pandemic will understandably fuel up
the stress and anxiety to a whole new level
altogether. The health and the well-being of her
unborn baby, being her primary focus, during her
pregnancy. In fact, pregnant women in this covid
situation with the new Omicron variant in place
will have several questions in their mind.
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Are Would-be-moms At Higher Risk Of
COVID-19? Basically, the changing hormones in a
pregnant woman, not just takes a toll upon a
would-be-moms body and mind, but even decreases
her level of immunity to fight this perilous
disease. Apart from the hormonal fluctuations,
factors like 

• pre-existing health conditions (like Chronic lung
  disease, chronic liver disease, Mental health
  disorders, chronic kidney disease (CKD), cystic
  fibrosis, diabetes, hypertension, etc), 
• maternal age (being older than 25 years old), or 
• being in a place where it is not possible to
  maintain social distancing make pregnant women
  more susceptible to Covid-19

Moreover, severely ill pregnant women with Covid,
may need to be hospitalised, in the intensive
care, and under ventilator (for breathing). 
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Does Covid Affect the Baby In The Womb?
When the babies grow in their mothers womb,
the placenta acts as a protective shield between
the mother and baby. The placenta helps in
passing the antibodies to the growing baby and
blocks the transmission of any disease. The
Covid-19 virus may pass to the foetus during
pregnancy, but it is unlikely that it can cause a
problem in the babys health and development
before the babys birth.
However, some reports on Covid in pregnancy do
claim that there is an increased risk of pre-term
birth and stillbirth.
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Is Covid Vaccination Necessary For Pregnant
Women? 
It is important that precautions are taken during
pregnancy to keep the would-be-mom safe from
contracting the Covid-19 virus. Based on the
recommendations from National Technical Advisory
Group on Immunization (NTAGI), vaccination has
been approved for pregnant women against
Covid-19.  Pregnant women in India will be able
to take Covaxin, Covishield and Sputnik V as
authorised by Indian Government. Moreover, they
can get vaccinated at any time during pregnancy.
In this case, they should be made aware of the
risks of contracting the virus and the benefits
of receiving the vaccines. As far as the benefits
of vaccines are concerned, according to WHO,
these vaccines can protect pregnant women against
the potential pregnancy risks. 
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• What Is Covid 19 Omicron Variant?
• At the wake of early vaccination trials and
  several conflicting thoughts about it, a large
  number of pregnant women steered clear of the
  shots, thus being exposed to the fast-spreading
  Omicron Virus. The severity of the illness that
  Omicron causes are still not known. Extensive
  research on Omicron symptoms is still underway.
  However, since the increase in transmissibility
  can lead to hospitalisations and deaths, WHO
  warns that it should not be treated as mild. As
  Covid 19 Omicron Variant can impact the immunity
  of a person. 
• Now, pregnant women may be worried about dangers
  associated with this new variant. Since studies
  are still going on to prove the pregnancy risks
  caused by the Omicron virus, it would always be a
  good idea to take the vaccines and booster doses
  to keep both the mother and the baby safe. 
• Moreover, to protect the spread of the virus it
  is important to practice the Covid appropriate
  behaviour like 
• Wearing double mask 
• Washing hands frequently and thoroughly with soap
  and water and 
• Maintaining physical distance  

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Is It Safe To Bank The Stem Cells During
COVID-19? The umbilical cord is responsible for
nurturing the growing foetus by passing the
all-essential nutrients and oxygen. However, it
is surprising that, even if the mother is found
to be Covid- positive, the umbilical cord tests
negative. There are also several critical
diseases and conditions (may or may not be
similar to COVID-19), which have no cure, that
can be treated with cord blood , like cancer,
osteoarthritis and more. As cord blood is packed
with blood-forming stem cells which has the
capacity to differentiate into red blood cells,
white blood cells and platelets. Therefore, Umbil
ical cord blood banking even during Covid-19
allows parents to gain access to cutting-edge
treatments for themselves and their familys
healthy future. Moreover, since the cord blood
banks maintain the highest quality standards as
far as the laboratory processes are concerned,
therefore the essential cord blood banking
services from cord blood collection to
cryopreservation tends to remain unaltered even
during this pandemic situation.
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Source https//www.cordlifeindia.com/blog/how-har
mful-covid-19-omicron-variant-pregnancy/