A prospective observational study presented at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s (SMFM) 2026 Pregnancy Meeting reported no meaningful differences in autism-related screening results or other neurodevelopmental measures among toddlers whose mothers received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy or within 30 days before conception, compared with toddlers whose mothers did not receive an mRNA vaccine in that time window.
Researchers working within the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network reported results from a prospective, multi-center observational study conducted between May 2024 and March 2025 that assessed 434 children ages 18 to 30 months for autism-related and other developmental outcomes.
In the analysis, 217 children were born to mothers who received at least one dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine either during pregnancy or within 30 days before becoming pregnant, and 217 were born to mothers who did not receive an mRNA vaccine during pregnancy or within 30 days prior to pregnancy.
To reduce differences between the groups, vaccinated mothers were paired with unvaccinated mothers based on delivery setting, delivery date, insurance status, and race. The study excluded pregnancies that ended before 37 weeks, multiple-gestation pregnancies, and cases in which the child had a major congenital malformation.
When the children were between about 1½ and 2½ years old, the research team evaluated development using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, Version 3, which screens five domains: communication, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, problem solving, and personal-social interaction. Additional instruments included the Child Behavior Checklist, the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, and the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire.
“Neurodevelopment outcomes in children born to mothers who received the COVID-19 vaccine during or shortly before pregnancy did not differ from those born to mothers who did not receive the vaccine,” George R. Saade, MD, the study’s senior researcher, said in a statement. Saade is Professor and Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Associate Dean for Women’s Health at Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.
Brenna L. Hughes, MD, MSc, of Duke University, said the findings add “reassuring” data on longer-term child health outcomes following COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy. Hughes is the Edwin Crowell Hamblen Distinguished Professor of Reproductive Biology and Family Planning and interim chair of Duke’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
According to the meeting materials, the work was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the authors noted the conclusions do not necessarily reflect the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
The abstract, titled “Association between SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in pregnancy and child neurodevelopment at 18–30 months,” was listed as oral abstract #8 and was slated for publication in the February 2026 issue of PREGNANCY, SMFM’s open-access peer-reviewed journal.
