Pregnant Women With COVID‐19 Hospitalised in a Maternity Ward: Infection Severity, Mothers' Physical Status, and Sick Leave

ABSTRACT Objective To compare the severity of COVID‐19 infection in pregnant women hospitalised in a maternity ward and to investigate whether severity affected physical status and sick leave in the postpartum period. Methods This registry study retrieved data from Sahlgrenska University Hospital's COVID‐19 Registry (SU‐COVID Registry) and the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. In total, data from 178 patients ≥ 18 years of age and hospitalised in a maternity ward between 1 March 2020 and 31 March 2022 were included. Results Most women had mild disease (mild 66.3%) followed by moderate (28.7%) and severe (5.1%) disease ( p < 0.001). There were no significant differences regarding physical status measured as walking capacity or activities of daily living (ADL) capacity at admission and on discharge according to COVID‐19 severity. There was no significant difference across groups according to COVID‐19 severity in terms of how many participants were on postpartum sick leave (mild 15.3%, moderate 13.7%, and severe 33.3%; p = 0.319) nor regarding mean (SD) days of postpartum sick leave mild (7.2 [42.3]), moderate (6.8 [21.5]), and severe (24.8 [39.2]); p = 0.383). Conclusion Two‐thirds (66.3%) of women with COVID‐19 infection hospitalised in a maternity ward had a mild COVID‐19 infection. Furthermore, walking and ADL capacity were unchanged from hospital admission to hospital discharge. A low percentage of women were on sick leave during the first year after hospital discharge and there were no significant differences according to the severity of the COVID‐19 infection.