Neonatal outcome following maternal infection with SARS-CoV-2 in Germany: COVID-19-Related Obstetric and Neonatal Outcome Study (CRONOS)

SARS-CoV-2 infections in pregnant women and the consequences for their offspring are summarised in various reviews,1 2 but data on the impact of time of SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy on neonatal morbidity are still inconclusive.3 4 CRONOS (COVID-19-Related Obstetric and Neonatal Outcome Study) is a prospective German registry enrolling pregnant women with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection during their pregnancy.5 SARS-CoV-2 infection is defined as detection of viral RNA by PCR testing or detection of maternal SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Neonatal infection is defined as detection of viral RNA by PCR testing of a nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal or rectal swab. For the present analysis, time of maternal infection was categorised into ‘early’ or ‘late’ if women tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 more or less than 2 weeks prior to delivery, respectively. Data obtained between 3 April and 27 November 2020 were analysed, using 74 hospitals (73 German and 1 Austrian) comprising approximately 20% of German births. Within the study period 435 newborns were entered into the registry, 4 …