MADRID (REUTERS) - Pregnant women face a higher risk of developing pneumonia from Covid-19 than women in general aged between 30 and 40, a Spanish study showed on Wednesday (June 17).

The obstetrics and infectious diseases departments at Madrid's 12 de Octubre hospital found the risk of developing severe pneumonia from Covid-19 in "pregnant patients is high and superior to that of women of the same age", a hospital statement said.

Pregnant women who showed coronavirus symptoms had a 61.5% chance of developing pneumonia, according to the study.

This compared with an average risk of 25% for women between 30 and 40 years old in Spain, said the study, which was also published in the Lancet medical journal.

Researchers tracked 52 adult pregnant women who were diagnosed with Covid-19 between March 6 and April 5. Some 32 of the group contracted pneumonia, of whom more than half required supplemental oxygen.

Most pregnant women with Covid-19 did not need to be induced into labour and only three of the women included in the study needed a C-section as a result of the disease.