Risk factors for severe COVID-19

Adverse outcomes in pregnancy due to COVID-19 infection can be exacerbated by known maternal risk factors for severe COVID-19, including women who:

  • are older than 35 years
  • were living with overweight or obesity
  • smoke (see Smoking during pregnancy)
  • have pre-existing diabetes or hypertension (see Maternal medical conditions) (the Royal Women’s Hospital 2023; Western Australian Department of Health 2022).

Figure 3 presents the proportion pregnant women who had selected risk factors for severe COVID-19 during 2020 and 2021.

While Australia had relatively low rates of COVID-19 infection in 2020 and 2021 compared with other countries, this shows the population of pregnant women who were at greatest risk of poor outcomes.

Figure 3: Proportion of women who gave birth, by maternal risk factors for severe COVID-19 and state and territory of birth, 2020 to 2021

Bar chart shows maternal risk factors for COVID-19 by state and territory of birth between 2020 and 2021.

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