A survey carried out in New Zealand and Australia has revealed that pregnant women are at a high risk of exposure and susceptible to fatal complications arising out of an H1N1 infection.

This aids the results of an earlier study conducted on American women in April-May last that proposed that in contrast with non pregnant women, pregnant women were four times more likely to become gravely ill after contracting H1N1.

The present survey covers 64 expectant mothers or those who had given birth in the previous one month and who were undergoing intensive treatment for H1N1 between June 1 and Aug 31. Another paper, published online by the British Medical Journal, declared that the risk could be 13 times as much.

7% of these patients succumbed to the disease. Out of 60 births, 4 infants were stillborn and 3 died in the neo natal stage. There were 22 pre-mature births and 32 infants required neonatal intensive care treatment.

Dr. Stephen Lapinsky of the interdepartmental division of critical care at the University of Toronto said, “Despite evidence of an increase in maternal mortality after infection with H1N1, in the later phases of the pandemic its effect on pregnant women has been less than was initially anticipated.”

He also affirmed that this can be attributed warnings that recommended that expectant women should be vaccinated against the 2009 H1N1 strain.