This is based on two pre-print studies (links in thread) one in Ireland and one in Denmark.
A few cautions are warranted in interpreting these studies. I won't cover the papers completely, just a few points 👇🏻
A few cautions are warranted in interpreting these studies. I won't cover the papers completely, just a few points 👇🏻
First, these are pretty small studies for the subject matter.
Ex: The Irish study covers only 1381 births in the window they studied (Jan - April). A similar number of births in the prior year led to 8 extremely low birth weight infants and 12 very lbw infants vs 0 & 3 this yr.
Ex: The Irish study covers only 1381 births in the window they studied (Jan - April). A similar number of births in the prior year led to 8 extremely low birth weight infants and 12 very lbw infants vs 0 & 3 this yr.
While prior yrs consistently showed more births in those categories than this yr, it's a handful off from normal variation.
medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
The other paper doesn't give exact numbers for the preterm births, but is probably in a similar situation given the size of the population.
(Side note: European & Scandinavian countries are so small!)
medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
(Side note: European & Scandinavian countries are so small!)
medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
A second thing to keep in mind is that these studies are limited to live births.
One possibility (not mentioned) is that pregnancies which might have ended in a very preterm live birth might have resulted in a stillbirth instead bc of covid or covid-related care interruptions.
One possibility (not mentioned) is that pregnancies which might have ended in a very preterm live birth might have resulted in a stillbirth instead bc of covid or covid-related care interruptions.
There are some other possibilities here as well, such as shifting the timing of delivery by a few weeks rather than babies that would have been extreme premies ending up as term births.
Info on delivery interventions would be helpful to have but weren't provided.
Info on delivery interventions would be helpful to have but weren't provided.
More on the possibility of shifting outcomes from preterm live births to stillbirths.
