COVID Infection During Pregnancy Can Cause Brain Injury to Newborns, Study Finds

Medical staff members take care of a newborn baby in the paediatric ward of a hospital in this file photo taken on Nov. 17, 2020. Martin Bureau/AFP via Getty Images

A University of Miami research project found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus breached a mother’s placenta and caused brain damage to two newborn babies.

The study (pdf)—dubbed “Maternal SARS-CoV-2, Placental Changes and Brain Injury in Two Neonates”—was published in the Journal of Pediatrics on April 6 and is the first case report to confirm cross-placental COVID-19 transmission leading to brain injury in newborns.