The intrauterine environment strongly influences development. Neurodevelopmental effects of in utero exposure to maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection are widely speculated but currently unknown. The COVID-19 Mother Baby Outcomes (COMBO) initiative was established at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) in New York City to prospectively study the health and wellbeing of infants with and without in utero exposure to maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection. We report findings on 6-month neurodevelopmental outcomes using the parental-report Ages & Stages Questionnaire, 3rd Edition (ASQ-3), from 107 in utero exposed and 131 unexposed full-term infants born between March and December, 2020. We compare these infants to a historical cohort comprised of 62 infants born at CUIMC at least two months prior to the onset of the pandemic. In utero exposure to maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection was not associated with differences on any ASQ-3 subdomain regardless of infection timing or severity, however, infants born during the pandemic had significantly lower scores on gross motor, fine motor, and personal-social subdomains when compared to the historical cohort. Infants born to women who were in the first trimester of pregnancy during the peak of the pandemic in NYC had the lowest personal-social scores. Birth during the pandemic, but not maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection, was associated with differences in neurodevelopmental outcomes at 6-months. These early findings suggest significantly higher public health impact for the generation born during the COVID-19 pandemic than previously anticipated.

中文翻译：

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在 COVID-19 大流行期间出生，而不是在怀孕期间母亲 SARS-CoV-2 感染与 6 个月时较低的神经发育评分相关

宫内环境强烈影响发育。人们广泛推测子宫内暴露于母体 SARS-CoV-2 感染对神经发育的影响，但目前尚不清楚。COVID-19 母婴结局 (COMBO) 计划是在纽约市哥伦比亚大学欧文医学中心 (CUIMC) 建立的，旨在前瞻性研究婴儿在子宫内接触或未接触母亲 SARS-CoV-2 感染的情况。我们使用父母报告的年龄和阶段问卷，第 3 版 (ASQ-3) 报告 6 个月神经发育结果的结果，来自 2020 年 3 月至 12 月出生的 107 名宫内暴露和 131 名未暴露足月婴儿。我们比较了这些结果由 62 名在大流行开始前至少两个月在 CUIMC 出生的婴儿组成的历史队列。无论感染时间或严重程度如何，在子宫内暴露于母亲 SARS-CoV-2 感染与任何 ASQ-3 子域的差异均无关，但是，大流行期间出生的婴儿在粗大运动、精细运动和个人运动方面的得分明显较低。与历史队列相比，社会子域。在纽约大流行高峰期间怀孕头三个月的妇女所生的婴儿的个人社会得分最低。在大流行期间出生，但与母亲 SARS-CoV-2 感染无关，与 6 个月时神经发育结果的差异有关。这些早期发现表明，在 COVID-19 大流行期间出生的这一代人对公共卫生的影响比之前预期的要高得多。