as well as protecting mums to be. professor lucy chapel is the chief scientific advisor at the department of health and social care and she is professor of obstetrics at queens couege professor of obstetrics at queens college london. thank you for being with us to help explain these findings. i suppose the first question people ask is why have we only realized or been able to confirm their link at the stage? irate confirm their link at the stage? we have confirm their link at the stage? - have been monitoring the numbers of pregnant women who have needed hospitalization or admission to intensive care and one of our real concerns is the rising numbers of women needing intensive care including excavating a story in the recent third wave. it s been a real concern to us. so we are really encouraging pregnant women to get vaccinated which has been recommended since december so they can avoid all the complications of covid 19 disease. can avoid all the complications of covid-19 disease. cov