COVID-19 infections increase the chance of stillbirths, according to data released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A @CDCMMWR report looking at 1.2+ million deliveries found that although stillbirths were uncommon, compared with pregnant women without #COVID19, pregnant women with COVID-19 were 4x as likely to have a stillbirth. Read more: https://t.co/wwW0tD7Of6. pic.twitter.com/WCPzOIUQjH

— CDC (@CDCgov) November 19, 2021

The CDC examined 1.2 million births between March 2020 and September 2021. The Associated Press explains:

Stillbirths were rare overall, totaling 8,154 among all deliveries. But the researchers found that for women with COVID-19, about 1 in 80 deliveries resulted in stillbirth. Among the uninfected, it was 1 in 155.

“These findings underscore the importance of COVID-19 prevention strategies, including vaccination before or during pregnancy,” CDC researcher Carla DeSisto said.

A second study released Friday by the CDC found that 15 pregnant women died of COVID-19 in Mississippi between March 1, 2020 and Oct. 6, 2021. None of the fatalities were vaccinated and their median age was 30.

.@CDCMMWR finds #COVID19 deaths after infection during pregnancy rose in MS after Delta variant emerged. None of women who died were fully vaccinated. If you are pregnant or trying to be, get vaccinated to help prevent severe COVID-19 & protect your baby: https://t.co/eeEd7qKsHG. pic.twitter.com/JNviRZoKYT

— CDC (@CDCgov) November 19, 2021

Last month, NPR reported that “expecting mothers who get COVID are twice as likely to be admitted to the ICU and have a 70% increased risk of losing their lives.”

Dr. Rebecca Wineland, the director of labor and delivery at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, told NPR that COVID-19 also increases the risk of “babies with restricted growth and pre-eclampsia, a leading cause of maternal and infant death worldwide.”

“What’s really sad is we have 10 months of a vaccine that’s been highly effective and we just can’t convince people to take advantage of this,” Dr. Mark Turrentine, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, told the AP.