j. exp. clin. med. Deneysel ve Klinik Tıp Dergisi 1309-4483 1309-5129 Ondokuz Mayıs University Obstetrics and Gynaecology Kadın Hastalıkları ve Doğum The effect of COVID-19 during pregnancy on birth weight at term https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6668-7579 Aydemir Hüseyin Kürtün Devlet Hastanesi https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0865-3201 Bayoğlu Tekin Yeşim UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES, TRABZON KANUNİ HEALTH RESEARCH CENTER, DEPARTMENT OF SURGICAL MEDICAL SCIENCES, DEPARTMENT OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4707-7972 Atasoy Volkan UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES, TRABZON KANUNİ HEALTH RESEARCH CENTER, DEPARTMENT OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY MEDICINE https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9488-5414 Erin Recep SAĞLIK BİLİMLERİ ÜNİVERSİTESİ, TRABZON KANUNİ SAĞLIK UYGULAMA VE ARAŞTIRMA MERKEZİ, CERRAHİ TIP BİLİMLERİ BÖLÜMÜ, KADIN HASTALIKLARI VE DOĞUM ANABİLİM DALI https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4889-9919 Yurtsever Ceyhun UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES, TRABZON KANUNİ HEALTH RESEARCH CENTER, DEPARTMENT OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY MEDICINE https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6626-1735 Baki Erin Kübra UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES, TRABZON KANUNİ HEALTH RESEARCH CENTER, DEPARTMENT OF SURGICAL MEDICAL SCIENCES, DEPARTMENT OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3586-6125 Şal Hidayet Araklı Bayram Halil Devlet Hastanesi 04 01 2026 43 1 17 20 03 19 2025 02 22 2026 Copyright © 1980, Deneysel ve Klinik Tıp Dergisi 1980 Deneysel ve Klinik Tıp Dergisi

In this study, it was aimed to investigate COVID-19 influence on fetal growth during any period of pregnancy, based on birth weight. This single center controlled retrospective cohort study was conducted at a tertiary hospital obstetrics clinic between May 2020 and April 2022. Among those who met the inclusion criteria, 239 who had COVID-19 during pregnancy were included in the case group, and 239 who did not were included in the control group. Maternal age, trimester with COVID-19 and birth information including week of birth, gender of the child, and mode of birth were recorded. Birth weights were evaluated through Olsen Fetal Growth Curves and analyzed according to percentiles. The number of infants with low birth weight (less than 10th percentile) was 14 (5.9%) in the case group and 2 (0.9%) in the control group (p=0.002). No statistically significant difference was detected between the groups in terms of high birth weight (over the 90th percentile) (p=0.823). The mean maternal age of high birth weight newborns was higher than others, in the case group (35.0±5.0 versus 29.7±5.4, p=0.002). Logistic regression analysis showed that having had COVID-19 predicted low birth weight (OR 7.37 [1.66-32.81]). In this study, it was found that COVID-19 negatively affected birth weight regardless of the trimester of pregnancy. This highlights the need to investigate the intrauterine effects of COVID-19.

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