Contracting COVID-19 while pregnant dramatically increases the risk that a woman will give birth before the normal 39-44 weeks of pregnancy. Babies born significantly before term are at higher risk of critical, life-long health problems. The probability of premature and very premature delivery is especially true for women with medical comorbidities including diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. These findings are detailed in a paper in the peer-reviewed journal The Lancet Regional Health - Americas describing a new, large population study by researchers at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and at the University of California San Diego, the Department of Family Health Care Nursing, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the San Francisco Department of Public Health, the University of California Berkeley, the Stanford University School of Medicine, and the University of California Davis.