Two of the stillbirths were included in Nphet’s daily mortality figures on Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, while international experience showed it was “not unusual” for Covid-19 to cause placental infection, stillbirth was an “unusual complication”, Prof Peter McKenna, head of the HSE women and infants health programme, told The Irish Times.
The fact four stillbirths had occurred in a short time and among the small population of women with Covid-19 had raised concerns, prompting the HSE to issue the alert, he said.
Despite the absence of international evidence for Covid-related stillbirth, it was decided to issue the alert on a precautionary basis.
While the figures are improving across all ages, particularly in older people, there was news of preliminary reports on stillbirths linked to Covid-19.