SARASOTA, Fla. — Doctors at Sarasota Memorial Hospital say they’re concerned with the rising number of pregnant COVID-19 patients.
The CDC says 75 percent of expecting mothers are not vaccinated and that pregnant women have an increased chance of getting severely sick from COVID-19.
Dr. Felice Baron, the director of Maternal and Fetal Medicine at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, says the increase of pregnant COVID patients they’re seeing is startling.
"The volume of sick, pregnant patients has absolutely skyrocketed in the past few weeks," said Baron.
She says pregnant women are coming to the ER with symptoms of high fevers, pneumonia, respiratory distress, and babies not moving that much.
Baron says although babies cannot get COVID from their mother while in utero, there are other problems.
"It's something about the COVID infection and all the other things COVID sets off. The placentas are taking a hit and the babies are getting stressed and sometimes going into distress," said Baron.
The CDC says pregnant people with COVID-19 are more likely to have preterm birth and other outcomes, such as pregnancy loss, have been reported.
Dr. Baron says there is a lot of misinformation out there about getting the vaccine while pregnant. The CDC and doctors say the vaccine is safe for women in any stage of pregnancy. They’re encouraging women to get the Moderna of Pfizer vaccine.
"We strongly urge people to get vaccinated. Whether you’re pregnant or thinking of getting pregnant, it’s going to help you and it's going to be safer for the baby as well," said Baron.
