(NewsNation) — A new study suggests women who had COVID while pregnant had an increased likelihood of giving birth to children with autism and other developmental challenges.
The study published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology looked at 18,124 live births in Massachusetts.
Researchers analyzed children born during the peak COVID period, from March 2020 to May 2021.
Of 861 mothers who tested positive for the virus, 140 had children with some “neurodevelopmental diagnosis” within 36 months of birth, equating to 16.3% of the children researched.
Comparatively, 1,680 children born to mothers who did not get COVID also had a neurodevelopmental diagnosis, equating to 9.7%.
Cumulatively, children analyzed in the study were 29% more likely to have neurodevelopmental challenges if their mother was infected with COVID.
“These findings highlight that COVID-19, like many other infections in pregnancy, may pose risks not only to the mother but to fetal brain development,” senior author Andrea Edlow said of the findings, via News Medical.
Researchers added that the effects on children were most pronounced following exposure to COVID in the third trimester, and in male offspring.
“It’s not that every pregnant woman with COVID-19 in pregnancy needs to think that her child is going to have autism. Overall, the absolute risk is not extremely high,” co-author Andrea Edlow told The Washington Post.