Kenya, just like other countries globally, has been living with the Covid-19 pandemic for close to three years now.
Compared to the early days of the Covid-19 disease, people are no longer scared of the ailment and do not view it as a death sentence.
The increased awareness of prevention methods such as mask-wearing and hand hygiene, as well as the uptake of vaccines, has given people hope that the disease can be beaten.
And the announcement by the Health Ministry in March, which lifted the directive on the mandatory wearing of facemasks in public spaces, was a testament to the strides the country has made in tackling the disease.
Despite these gains, experts warn Kenyans against throwing caution to the winds and ignoring the prevention guidelines, since the Covid-19 is not yet over and its adverse effects on vulnerable populations are still a reality.
Among those considered to be at high risk of the adverse effects of the Covid-19, are pregnant women, due to the harms that the condition exposes unborn children to.
The preliminary analysis of a study presented at the recent 30th European Congress of Psychiatry indicated that babies born to mothers who suffered the disease during pregnancy seem to exhibit brain development challenges.
These development hurdles undermine the mental capacities of children by impeding their intellectual functioning, reading ability, social skills, focus skills, memory and attention.
“Not all babies born to mothers infected with Covid-19 show neurodevelopmental [brain development] differences, but our data shows that their risk is increased in comparison to those not exposed to Covid-19 in the womb.
We need a bigger study to confirm the exact extent of the difference,” notes Dr Rosa Ayesa Arriola, the lead for the study project (known as Spanish COGESTCOV-19), which is being conducted in Spain.
The researchers arrived at the preliminary results of this study, by following the course of pregnancy and baby development in mothers infected with Covid-19. The analysis of the effects of the disease on the child was done six weeks after birth.
During the study, comparisons were made between babies born to 21 Covid-19 positive pregnant women and infants delivered by another group of 21 healthy mothers that did not get infected during pregnancy.
All women who participated in the research attended the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital in Santander, Spain.
The mothers underwent a series of tests during and after pregnancy. These included hormonal and other biochemical tests — measuring things such as cortisol (stress hormone) levels and immune responses. Salivary tests, movement response assessments and psychological tests were also conducted.
The post-natal tests conducted after delivery included the Neonatal Behavioural Assessment Scale (NBAS), which measures the baby’s movement and behaviour.
At the end of the study, the researchers found that babies born to mothers who had been infected with Covid-19 showed greater difficulties in relaxing and adapting their bodies when they were being held, compared to infants from non-infected mothers. The most affected were children whose mothers had been infected by the Covid-19 in late pregnancy.
In addition, infants born from infected mothers showed greater difficulty in controlling head and shoulder movements.
“These alterations suggest a possible Covid-19 effect on motor function (movement control) of the child. Effectively, they react slightly differently to being held, or cuddled,” noted Águeda Castro Quintas, a lead researcher of the study from the University of Barcelona’s Network Centre for Biomedical Research based in Spain.
In an independent commentary on the research findings, Dr Livio Provenzi from the University of Pavia in Italy noted that there is a great need to study both the direct and indirect effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the health and well-being of parents and infants.
“Pregnancy is a period of life which shapes much of our subsequent development and exposure to adversity in pregnancy can leave long-lasting biological footprints. Based on the preliminary findings of the new study, we need more large-scale, international research to allow us to understand the developmental effects of this health emergency, and to deliver better quality of care to parents and infants,” he said.
“This is the right moment to establish international collaborations that would permit the use and assessment of long-term neurodevelopment in children born during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Research in this field is vital in understanding and preventing possible neurological problems and mental health vulnerabilities in those children in the coming years,” stated Dr Arriola.
