Paradigm shift in utilization of blood and blood components during COVID pandemic among pregnant women in India.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed major challenges in obstetric care due to altered maternal physiology and coagulation abnormalities, increasing transfusion requirements in pregnant women. Blood and blood component transfusion remains essential for managing anemia, obstetric hemorrhage and sepsis. Therefore, it is of interest to evaluate the pattern and indications of blood and blood component utilization in COVID-positive pregnant women and compared them with the pre-COVID era. Packed red cells were the most frequently transfused component, followed by fresh frozen plasma and platelets during the pandemic. The observed change in utilization shows COVID- 19-related coagulopathy for adequate availability of blood components during pandemics.