DURHAM, NC (WTVD) — A Duke doctor is leading the national effort to get pregnant women included in COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials and studies.
Dr. Brenna Hughes, Duke University’s Vice Chair of Obstetrics and Quality and Maternal-Fetal Medicine Division Chief, has studied infectious diseases in pregnancy for decades and since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, has shaped guidelines going out to physicians across the U.S. and around the world.
Hughes was tapped to serve on three separate panels, including with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and the National Institutes of Health.
For the last ten months, she has been providing evidence-based recommendations for physicians on how to treat pregnant women who have contracted the virus.
According to the CDC, pregnant women with COVID-19 are at an increased risk of severe illness and might be at an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth.