Pregnant women should get a COIVD 19 test before they give birth.

That is the advice from IDPH Director and Dr. Ngozi Ezike. She says that recent data in Illinois shows that pregnant women are infected with COVID-19 anywhere between 3 and 12 percent of the time. A test will alert medical care providers to use the proper PPE and prepare the right medical plan for the mother and newborn.

Ezike says doctors are also worried about mothers unknowingly passing a coronavirus infection to their newborns after birth.