{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T02:12:11Z","timestamp":1760148731443,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,7]],"date-time":"2023-06-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1686096000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Serbia has faced devastating losses related to increased mortality rates among men and women of all ages. With 14 registered cases of maternal death in 2021, it became obvious that pregnant women are faced with a serious threat that jeopardises their life as well as the life of their unborn child. Studying the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal outcomes is vivifying and stimulating for many professionals and decision-makers, and knowing the contextual characteristics can facilitate the application of literature findings in practice. Therefore, the aim of this study was to present findings of maternal mortality in Serbia associated with SARS-CoV-2 infected and critically ill pregnant women. Methods: Clinical status and pregnancy-related features were analysed for a series of 192 critically ill pregnant women with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. According to the treatment outcome, pregnant women were divided in two study groups: a group of survivors and a group of deceased patients. Results: A lethal outcome was recorded in seven cases. Pregnant women in the deceased group were presenting at admission more commonly with X-ray\u2013confirmed pneumonia, a body temperature of &gt;38 \u00b0C, cough, dyspnea, and fatigue. They were more likely to have a progression of the disease, to be admitted to intensive care unit, and be dependent from mechanical ventilation, as well as to have nosocomial infection, pulmonary embolism, and postpartum haemorrhage. On average, they were in their early third trimester of pregnancy, presenting more commonly with gestational hypertension and preeclampsia. Conclusions: Initial clinical manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection, such as dyspnea, cough, fatigue, and fever, could be a potent factors in risk stratification and outcome prediction. Prolonged hospitalization, ICU admission, and associated risk of hospital-acquired infections require strict microbiological surveillance and should be a constant reminder of rational antibiotics use. Understanding and identification of risk factors associated with poor maternal outcomes among pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 should warn medical professionals of potentially unwanted outcomes and can be used for organising an individualised treatment for a pregnant patient\u2019s specific needs, including a guide to necessary consultations with medical specialists in various fields.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm12123902","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,8]],"date-time":"2023-06-08T02:02:28Z","timestamp":1686189748000},"page":"3902","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Risk Factors of Adverse Maternal Outcome among SARS-CoV-2 Infected Critically Ill Pregnant Women in Serbia"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Sladjana","family":"Mihajlovic","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital \u201cDragisa Misovic\u201d, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jelena","family":"Trifunovic Kubat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital \u201cDragisa Misovic\u201d, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0609-9916","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dejan","family":"Nikolic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"},{"name":"Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University Children\u2019s Hospital, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0684-359X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Milena","family":"Santric-Milicevic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"},{"name":"Institute of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health and Health Management, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8091-2461","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Biljana","family":"Milicic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Statistics and Informatics, School of Dental Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nemanja","family":"Dimic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"},{"name":"Clinic for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, University Hospital \u201cDragisa Misovic\u201d, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Milan","family":"Lackovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital \u201cDragisa Misovic\u201d, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1189","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(06)69380-X","article-title":"Maternal mortality: Who, when, where, and why","volume":"368","author":"Ronsmans","year":"2006","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"661","DOI":"10.1111\/jog.12954","article-title":"Incidence and causes of maternal mortality in the USA","volume":"42","author":"Kuriya","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. 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