Impact of COVID-19 mitigation measures on perinatal outcomes in the Netherlands

• Published in: Public health (London) Vol. 236; pp. 322 - 327
• Main Authors: Burgos-Ochoa, Lizbeth, Bertens, Loes CM, Boderie, Nienke W., Gravesteijn, Benjamin Y., Obermann-Borst, Sylvia, Rosman, Ageeth, Struijs, Jeroen, Labrecque, Jeremy, de Groot, Christianne J., Been, Jasper V., Ambrosino, Elena, Van den Auweele, Kim, Been, Jasper, Beijers, Roseriet, Bertens, Loes, Bloemenkamp, Kitty, Boderie, Nienke, Burdorf, Lex, Burgos Ochoa, Lizbeth, de Jonge, Ank, de Weerth, Caroline, Franx, Arie, Harper, Sam, Kazemier, Brenda M., Klein, Peter Paul, Kretz, Daniëlle, Mol, Ben Willem, Muris, Jean, Nieuwenhuijze, Marianne, Obermann, Sylvia, Oudijk, Martijn, Peters, Lilian, Ramerman, Lotte, Ravelli, Anita, Schonewille- Rosman, Ageeth, Schoenmakers, Sam, Torij, Hanneke, Van Beukering, Monique, van den Akker, Thomas, van den Heuvel, Marion, van Dillen, Jeroen, van Lenthe, Frank, Van Ourti, Tom, Verhoeff, Arnoud, Vermeulen, Marijn, Visser, Nettie, Willers, Saskia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2024
• Subjects: COVID-19; Lockdowns; Perinatal outcomes; COVID-19; Perinatal outcomes; Lockdowns
• ISSN: 0033-3506; 1476-5616; 1476-5616
• DOI: 10.1016/j.puhe.2024.09.002

Investigate the acute impact of COVID-19 mitigation measures implemented in March 2020 on a comprehensive range of perinatal outcomes. National registry-based quasi-experimental study. We obtained data from the Dutch Perinatal Registry (2010–2020) which was linked to multiple population registries containing sociodemographic variables. A difference-in-discontinuity approach was used to examine the impact of COVID-19 mitigation measures on various perinatal outcomes. We investigated preterm birth incidence across onset types, alongside other perinatal outcomes including low birth weight, small-for-gestational-age, NICU admission, low-APGAR-score, perinatal mortality, neonatal death, and stillbirths. The analysis of the national-level dataset revealed a consistent pattern of reduced preterm births after the enactment of COVID-19 mitigation measures on March 9, 2020 (OR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.68–0.96). A drop in spontaneous preterm births post-implementation was observed (OR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.62–0.98), whereas no change was observed for iatrogenic births. Regarding stillbirths (OR = 0.95, 95% CI 0.46–1.95) our analysis did not find compelling evidence of substantial changes. For the remaining outcomes, no discernible shifts were observed. Our findings confirm the reduction in preterm births following COVID-19 mitigation measures in the Netherlands. No discernible changes were observed for other outcomes, including stillbirths. Our results challenge previous concerns of a potential increase in stillbirths contributing to the drop in preterm births, suggesting alternative mechanisms.