It’s been more than six months into the pandemic, and experts say they still don’t have enough information about how the coronavirus affects pregnant women.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report last month saying that pregnant women were more likely to be hospitalized and at increased risk for being admitted into intensive care. The report also said that pregnancy increased a woman’s risk of being put on a ventilator, but showed no association with increased mortality.

The CDC also said that Hispanic and Black pregnant women “appear to be disproportionately affected by SARS-Cov-2 during pregnancy.” What the report failed to note, however, is whether the hospitalizations and complications were caused by the virus or the pregnancy.

According to The New York Times, the reason we don’t have more specific information about how the virus affects pregnant women is because the U.S. lacks a uniform way of gathering information on specific cases. Experts at the CDC said that their data included several sources by regional health departments, but as their report illustrates, clinicians didn’t have the time to provide more details about their patients’ symptoms and reactions to the disease.

“We were on fire taking care of pregnant women or patients across the institution who were really, really sick,” said Allison Bryant, M.D., a maternal-fetal expert in the OB/GYN Department at Massachusetts General Hospital and a member of the COVID-19 working group for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She told the Times that under those circumstances, individual case reporting was less of a priority than saving lives.

The CDC report also didn’t state whether the pregnant women were hospitalized because of COVID-19 or for reasons related to their pregnancy. There was also missing data for the reason 75% of the patients landed up on ventilators, according the Times.

To address these issues, and others regarding how COVID-19 affects pregnant women, the Universities of California at San Francisco and Los Angeles have set up a national registry called PRIORITY: Pregnancy Coronavirus Outcomes Registry, to “collect data on pregnant and recently pregnant women under investigation for or recently diagnosed with COVID-19.” So far, more than 950 women have enrolled nationwide with about 60% of them testing positive for COVID-19.

An article ProPublica reported “an agonizing lag in coronavirus research puts pregnant women and babies at risk,” adding that we need to have better communication with providers to keep pregnant women and their babies safe in light of emerging viral diseases such as COVID-19.

By contrast, researchers in the U.K. were ready when COVID-19 struck in February with eight studies launched to collect data on the virus including one by the U.K. Obstetric Surveillance System (UKOSS). The UKOSS collected information on pregnant women with COVID-19 from the National Health Services 194 obstetric hospitals. In mid-May, the UKOSS published comprehensive data that helped health officials plan guidance for high-risk pregnant women, especially those of color.

According to the Times, the CDC is planning a data collection system to gather information on pregnant women and their children that would include surveillance for those infected with COVID-19.

In the meantime, experts say that pregnant women should continue social distancing, wear face coverings and wash their hands regularly.

“The best way to avoid severe COVID is really to avoid COVID altogether,” Dr. Bryant said, according to the Times.