On Apr. 24, 2020, researchers at the University of Oxford announced the start of a large, international study to evaluate the effects of COVID-19 in pregnancy. The INTERCOVID study will provide women, families, health care providers and policy makers with high-quality evidence regarding the effects of COVID-19 in pregnancy on the health of the mother, fetus and newborn.

The researchers began recruitment of women who had been exposed and not-exposed to SARS-CoV-2 at any stage of pregnancy, and planned following them and their newborns until hospital discharge to quantify the risks associated with the exposure.

The information is needed quickly and at scale to optimise pregnancy care, reduce maternal anxiety, inform decision-making about the allocation of resources, and guide the process toward social adaptation. Although it is generally believed that pregnant women with COVID-19 are at similar risk to the general population, there is limited data available, principally from small studies without controls, which cannot answer fundamental questions relating to the effects of the disease on maternal and neonatal outcomes.

The researchers will be recruiting women who have been exposed and not-exposed to SARS-CoV-2 at any stage of pregnancy, and following them and their newborns until hospital discharge to quantify the risks associated with the exposure. Exposed pregnant women are defined as having:

•  laboratory confirmed COVID-19;
• radiological findings suggestive of COVID-19;
• symptoms compatible with COVID-19 according to a predefined list, or;
  d) no symptoms, whilst in close interaction with a person(s) with confirmed COVID-19 infection (a proxy for asymptomatic cases, one of the main problems in controlling the pandemic).

For every exposed pregnant woman, two not-exposed pregnant women will be recruited as representative of the general population.