Preterm Singleton Birth Rate during the COVID-19 Lockdown: A Population-Based Study

Objective The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic national lockdown period on the rate of singleton preterm births in Israel. Study Design This is a population-based cohort study of 3,41,291 singleton infants born in the months of January to July 2017 to 2020. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the influence of period and year on the rates of preterm births during the lockdown period (11 ^thMarch - 5 ^thMay 2020) compared with rates before (January 1 ^st2020 - March 10 ^th2020), and after the lockdown (May 6 ^th2020-June 30 ^th2020) and to the corresponding periods in 2017to 2019. Results During the lockdown period the preterm birth rate (primary outcome) decreased by 9.7% from 5.05 to 4.56% in the pre-lockdown period (p = 0.006), an adjusted decrease of -0.52% (95% confidence interval -0.89%; -0.15%), odds ratio 0.898 (95% confidence interval 0.832; 0.970). Conclusion The rate of singleton preterm births declined by 9.7% during the COVID-19 pandemic national lockdown period in Israel. Key Points A 10% decline in all preterm deliveries was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic national lock-down period. The lock-down might influence environmental changes which contribute to the decrease in preterm deliveries. Changes in lifestyle, and societal behavior might contribute to the decrease in preterm deliveries.