A shocking new study reveals that pregnant women infected with the coronavirus are 50% more likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit and have a 70% higher chance of being put on a ventilator than women who are not pregnant of childbearing age.

After three months of being silent about the critically important topic of how COVID-19 affects expectant mothers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released data that reveals these startlingly higher risks.

According to ProPublica, the CDC concluded that 46.2% of pregnant Latino women in the study, 23% of white pregnant women, and 22.1% of Black pregnant women tested positive for the virus. Among women in the study who were not pregnant, 38.1% of Latinos, 29.4% of whites, and 25.4% of Blacks were infected.

As of June 7, 16 pregnant women and 208 nonpregnant women included in the study had died from the virus.

The CDC admitted that for the 326,000 women of reproductive age who tested positive for the virus, there was no information pertaining to pregnancy. Researchers added that they didn't even know how many of the expectant moms had been admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 compared to those who were admitted for other reasons, including giving birth. This lapse of basic yet vital information has many experts shaking their heads.

Dr. Cindy M.P. Duke, an OB-GYN and the medical director of the Nevada Fertility Institute in Las Vegas, told ProPublica the gaps in the CDC data are "startling."

"It's shocking to realize that we do not have a uniform system in place" for identifying and analyzing the information, Duke said.

According to the Mayo Clinic, infants are at a higher risk when it comes to COVID-19 because their immune systems are not fully developed. In addition, their small airways make them more susceptible to developing breathing problems.

The CDC said it will work with pubic health departments to better monitor how the virus affects pregnant women and infants.

"To address these data gaps, CDC, in collaboration with health departments, has initiated COVID-19 pregnancy surveillance to report pregnancy-related information and outcomes among pregnant women with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection," the report reads.