{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,18]],"date-time":"2025-11-18T15:45:33Z","timestamp":1763480733593,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,19]],"date-time":"2024-01-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1705622400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Vaccines"],"abstract":"<jats:p>During the coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the safety and efficacy of vaccination during pregnancy, particularly regarding the risk of preterm birth, have been a subject of concern. This systematic review aims to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 vaccination on preterm birth risk and to inform clinical practice and public health policies. Following PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, a database search included PubMed, Embase, and Scopus, conducted up until October 2023. Inclusion criteria focused on studies that examined COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy and its correlation with preterm birth, defined as a birth before 37 weeks of gestation. Six studies met these criteria, encompassing 35,612 patients. A quality assessment was performed using the Newcastle\u2013Ottawa Scale and the Cochrane Collaboration\u2019s tool, with the risk of bias evaluated via a funnel plot analysis and an Egger\u2019s regression test. The studies demonstrated geographical diversity, mainly from Israel, Romania, and the United States, with a blend of prospective and retrospective designs. The patient cohort\u2019s mean age was 31.2 years, with common comorbidities such as gestational diabetes and obesity affecting 9.85% of the total population. The vaccination types varied across the studies, with BNT162b2 being the most used. The results indicated a low heterogeneity among the included studies, evidenced by a Cochran\u2019s Q statistic of 2.10 and an I2 statistic of 13%. The meta-analysis yielded a pooled odds ratio (OR) for a preterm birth risk post-vaccination of approximately 1.03 (95% CI: 0.82\u20131.30), suggesting no significant increase in preterm birth risk was associated with COVID-19 vaccination. Notable findings included a low preterm birth rate (as low as 0.6% and up to 6.1%) with minimal differences in neonatal outcomes, such as birth weight and APGAR (appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, and respiration) scores between vaccinated and unvaccinated groups. This study concludes that a COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy does not significantly increase the risk of preterm birth. These findings are crucial for reassuring healthcare providers and pregnant women about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines and supporting their use in public health strategies during the pandemic.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/vaccines12010102","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,19]],"date-time":"2024-01-19T08:58:13Z","timestamp":1705654693000},"page":"102","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 Vaccination on Preterm Birth: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Mihaela","family":"Uta","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Discipline of Obstetrics and Gynecology, \u201cVictor Babes\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timisoara, Romania"},{"name":"Doctoral School, \u201cVictor Babes\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timisoara, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marius","family":"Craina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Discipline of Obstetrics and Gynecology, \u201cVictor Babes\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timisoara, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Felicia","family":"Marc","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 410073 Oradea, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ileana","family":"Enatescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Discipline of Neonatology, \u201cVictor Babes\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timisoara, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5578284","DOI":"10.1155\/2022\/5578284","article-title":"COVID-19 Impact on Public Health, Environment, Human Psychology, Global Socioeconomy, and Education","volume":"2022","author":"Miyah","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sci. 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