Does maternal infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus during pregnancy harm the developing fetal brain or increase the sensitivity to later developmental and environmental insults? The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak has fundamentally altered the child health landscape, ushering in sweeping changes in the social and economic fabric within which children grow. The rapidity of these environment changes, coupled with the relatively novelty of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the widespread nature of infections, have presented multiple pressing questions.

Among the unknowns that directly affect newborn and child health are:

1. How does Covid-19 infection during pregnancy affect the developing fetus or subsequent infant neurodevelopment?
2. How will the unprecedented scale and scope of concurrent environmental changes impact child health and neurodevelopment?

Unfortunately, over the course of the outbreak, the impact on children has been slow to be recognized with studies of Covid-19 infection or effects in infants and young children sparse to nonexistent. Moreover, while the health and economic impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak have been felt by everyone, the most severe effects have be felt by racial and ethnic minorities and lower income families. Thus, the most sensitive families and children already at risk for worsened neurodevelopmental outcomes are disproportionately and more intensely affected. Studies of newborns and infants are, therefore, critical to designing effective guidelines of care for expectant mothers, optimizing early care and support for mothers and their newborns, and prioritizing pre- and postnatal interventions.

This supplement project aims to contribute important and timely evidence for these outcomes by characterizing neurodevelopmental profiles in infants born to mothers with and without antenatal Covid-19 infection, and examining the concurrent impact of social, economic, and substance use factors.