Results of Pregnancy Control before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparison of Two Cohorts

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic placed pregnant women at high risk, but behavioural changes have also led to lower rates of preterm births in high-income countries. The main goal of this article is to study the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pregnancy control and outcomes; this is a joint analysis of two cohorts. The pre-pandemic cohort includes 969 pregnant women recruited in 2018. The pandemic cohort comprises 1168 pregnant women recruited in 2020. Information on demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, reproductive history, characteristics of the current pregnancy and its outcome were obtained from medical records. Birth by Caesarean section was more frequent in the pre-pandemic cohort (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.55–0.92). A birth weight lower than 2500 g and higher than 4000 g occurred more frequently in the pre-pandemic cohort (adjusted OR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.41–0.93 for lower than 2500 g and adjusted OR = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.20–0.46 for higher than 4000 g). Exclusive breastfeeding upon hospital discharge was more frequent in the pandemic cohort than in the pre-pandemic cohort (60% vs. 54%, p = 0.005), with adjusted OR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.52–0.86 for mixed breastfeeding and infant formula. In conclusion, we report reductions in Caesarean sections and reduced numbers of low birth weight babies during the pandemic in a hospital located in northern Spain. Further analysis will clarify if these reductions are related to changes in health-related behaviour or healthcare operation.

COVID‐19 pandemic and population‐level pregnancy and neonatal outcomes in general population: A living systematic review and meta‐analysis (Update#2: November 20, 2021)

“…Of 11 875 records in the initial search, 53 articles were eligible for inclusion, of which 52 were used in the quantitative synthesis 2,7–10,18–66 (Figure 1). Forty full‐text reports were excluded: reasons for the exclusions are provided in Appendix S2.…”

Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and pregnancy and neonatal outcomes in general population: A living systematic review and meta‐analysis (updated Aug 14, 2021)

“…Of 9953 records in the initial search, 45 articles were eligible for inclusion, of which 44 were used in the quantitative synthesis 2 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 (Figure 1 ). Twenty‐six full‐text reports were excluded: reasons for the exclusions are provided in Appendix S2 .…”

Impact of Isolation measures on pregnancy outcome during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Studies have also pointed out the analysis of the status of new coronary pneumonia in pregnant women ( Fox and Melka, 2020 ), the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 patients during pregnancy ( Sabharwal et al, 2021 ), and the study of adverse childbirth outcomes ( Sun et al, 2021 ). In addition, some scholars have also paid attention to the impact of the epidemic lockdown and isolation on premature birth, stillbirth ( Khalil et al, 2020 , Handley et al, 2021 ), and low birth weight of newborns ( Llorca et al, 2021 , Cuestas et al, 2021 ). Previous studies have found a decrease in preterm births ( McDonnell et al, 2020 ) and an increase in stillbirths ( Khalil et al, 2020 ) as a result of isolation, demonstrating that the isolation of pregnant women in COVID-19 affects pregnancy outcomes.…”