Beginning of pandemic saw fewer preterm births, finds U of M researchers

Fewer pre-term births in early pandemic: research University of Manitoba researchers found there were fewer pre-term births during the first four months of pandemic lockdowns.

The number of preterm births decreased in the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a global study co-led by University of Manitoba researchers.

‘The International Perinatal Outcomes in the Pandemic Study,’ which was published in the journal ‘Nature Human Behaviour,’ found that there was a three to four per cent reduction in preterm births during the first four months of lockdown. A birth is classified as preterm if it happens before 37 weeks of gestation.

“The pandemic presented this really interesting and unique natural experiment where the whole world essentially went through this exposure to lockdowns,” said Meghan Azad, associate professor of pediatrics at the U of M.

“This study, we weren’t looking at COVID infection itself, but just this idea that everyone’s lifestyle changed so drastically.”

During the study, which involved 167 collaborators across 42 countries, researchers examined more than 52 million births in 26 countries between January 2015 and July 2020. The research shows that the decrease in preterm births at the start of the pandemic was limited to high-income countries.

Azad, who is a Canada Research Chair in developmental origins of chronic disease, noted that a three to four per cent reduction may not sound like a big difference, but on a global level it is significant.

“We estimate actually that up to 50,000 preterm births were prevented in the first month of lockdown alone, so that’s a large number,” she said in an interview on Tuesday.

The next question that researchers are looking to answer is why there was this reduction.

Azad said some of the theories include that pregnant people had less stress while staying home. Other possibilities include decreased exposure to non-COVID infections, as well as reduced air pollution. Both infections and air pollution are known to cause inflammation, which contributes to preterm births.

Azad added that they are still not at the point to be able to give firm advice on what this means for pregnant people, but it shows there are potential ways of reducing preterm birth.

“I think there’s a lot to learn here from this terrible situation, but maybe a happy silver lining or accident around the pandemic is that we can learn things around preterm birth,” she said.

In an average year, there are an estimated 14.8 million preterm births across the world. Preterm births and related complications are the leading cause of infant mortality. Azad noted preterm births can also lead to life-long health problems, including breathing difficulties and learning disabilities.

“Preterm births in general affect up to 10 per cent of babies worldwide, so it’s a large number,” Azad said. “It’s an incredibly important problem.”

- With files from CTV’s Michelle Gerwing.