An expecting woman infected with coronavirus gave birth to a premature baby at Semmelweis University on 16th June.
At 31 weeks of gestation a baby weighing 1,450 grams was born by caesarean section, whose mother had been diagnosed with COVID-19 infection shortly before delivery. Due to symptoms suggestive of coronavirus infection and the risk of preterm birth, the mother was transferred from a hospital in Budapest to Semmelweis University’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, which is an institution designated to treat coronavirus patients in their field. A PCR test was immediately performed on the patient upon her arrival at the university. As she tested positive for coronavirus she was treated in isolation. Due to breech position of the fetus the baby was born by caesarean section after preterm labour. The operation was undisturbed and it was carried out in accordance with the rules promoting the maximal exclusion of viral infection. In Hungary, it was the first occasion to perform caesarean section on a mother infected with COVID-19.
Mother and baby are in satisfactory condition, the PCR test performed on the newborn was negative.
Pálma Dobozi
Featured image (illustration): Attila Kovács – Semmelweis University
Translation: Ágnes Raubinek
