Antepartum stillbirth rates during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Austria: A population‐based study

Muin, D; Neururer, Sabrina; Falcone, Veronica; Windsperger, Karin; Helmer, Hanns; Leitner, Hermann; Kiss, Herbert; Farr, Alex

doi:10.1002/ijgo.13989

Cited by 16 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(34 reference statements)

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“…Within the published literature, single-center 45,51,53–55 and national 56–60 studies have reported conflicting evidence in relation to perinatal outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a meta-analysis, Yang et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, the effect modification by SES was not assessed in the aforementioned studies. [19][20][21][22] Within the published literature, single-center 45,51,[53][54][55] and national [56][57][58][59][60] studies have reported conflicting evidence in relation to perinatal outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a metaanalysis, Yang et al examined the influence of COVID-19 restrictions on maternal and neonatal outcomes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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COVID-19 pandemic impact on preterm birth and stillbirth rates associated with socioeconomic disparities: A quasi-experimental study

Aboulatta

Kowalec

Leong

et al. 2022

Preprint

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BackgroundConflicting evidence exists on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on preterm birth (PTB) and stillbirth rates. We aimed to evaluate changes in PTB and stillbirth rates before and during the pandemic period and assess the potential effect modification of socioeconomic status (SES).MethodsUsing the linked administrative health databases from Manitoba, Canada, we conducted a quasi-experimental study among all pregnant women, comparing 3.5 years pre-pandemic (1 October 2016 to 29 February 2020) to the first year of the pandemic (1 March 2020 to 31 March 2021). We used interrupted time series analysis using autoregressive integrated moving average models to assess the quarterly rates of PTB (<37 weeks) and stillbirths. We calculated the predicted trends based on pre-pandemic period data. Finally, we evaluated the lower and higher SES (average annual household income) using subgroup analysis and interaction models.ResultsWe examined 70,931 pregnancies in Manitoba during the study period. Following the implementation of COVID-19 restrictions in March 2020, there were no statistically significant changes in the rates of both PTB (p=0.094) and stillbirths (p=0.958). However, over the pandemic, the PTB rate significantly decreased as a rebound effect by 0.63% per quarter(p=0.005); whereas the stillbirth rate did not change significantly (p=0.878) compared to pre-pandemic period. During the first quarter of 2021, the absolute differences in the observed and expected PTB and stillbirth percentages were 2.05% and 0.04%, respectively. We observed a statistically significant effect modification by SES for PTB rates (p=0.047).ConclusionWhile the onset of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions was not associated with significant effects on PTB and stillbirth rates, we observed a statistically significant rebound effect on PTB rates. The impact of COVID-19 on preterm birth was dependent on SES, with higher influence on families with lower SES. Further studies are needed to detect future trend changes during pandemic waves after 2021 and assess potential underlying mechanisms.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 pandemic impact on preterm birth and stillbirth rates associated with socioeconomic disparities: A quasi-experimental study

Aboulatta

Kowalec

Leong

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Interestingly, the number of requests for in utero transfers because of threatened preterm birth and fetal growth restriction decreased during lockdown. Many authors have reported a significant impact of the pandemic, and more specifically, of the different lockdowns on preterm delivery rates and on low-birth-weight births [ 6 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ]. Most studies show a decrease in the number of preterm births during successive lockdowns.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of the 1st Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Lockdown on In Utero Transfer Activity in the Paris Area, France

Vivanti

Fesquet

Gabriel

et al. 2022

JCM

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Background: To assess changes in the number and profile of in utero transfer requests during the first lockdown. Methods: An observational, retrospective, cohort study. All pregnant women, from the Paris area (France), for whom a request for in utero transfer to the transfer unit was made during the first lockdown in France (from 17 March to 10 May 2020) or during a mirror period (years 2016 to 2019) were included. We compared the numbers and proportions of various indications for in utero transfer, the rates of in utero transfer acceptance and the proportion of outborn deliveries. Results: 206 transfer requests were made during the lockdown versus 227, 236, 204 and 228 in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively. The relative proportion of requests for threatened preterm births and for fetal growth restriction decreased from 45% in the mirror period to 37% and from 8 to 3%, respectively. The transfer acceptance rates and outborn deliveries did not differ between time periods. Conclusions: Although a reduction in in utero transfer requests was observed for certain indications, the first lockdown was not associated with a decrease in acceptance rates nor in an increase in outborn births of pregnancies with a high risk of prematurity in the Paris area.

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“…In Norway, the exact gestational age of the first-trimester miscarriages occurring before 12 completed gestational weeks was not available. Based on registrations in Denmark, the median gestational week of the registered first-trimester miscarriages was 8 weeks (interquartile range 6,9). From the Swedish Pregnancy Register, we retrieved information on all births at ≥ 22 gestational weeks during the same time period; in Sweden, 92% of births are included in the national register (18 of 21 Swedish regions).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was suggested early on that pandemic mitigation measures could influence the rate of pregnancy outcomes; however, whether this is the case is controversial due to inconsistent findings across countries 3 . Some studies report evidence of an increase in stillbirths during the first wave of the pandemic 4 – 9 , while other studies found no evidence of a difference 10 – 17 . A meta-analysis concluded that there was significant evidence of an increase in stillbirths after pandemic lockdown 18 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Fetal death after the introduction of COVID-19 mitigation measures in Sweden, Denmark and Norway: a registry-based study

Magnus

Oakley

Hansen

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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It remains unclear whether the rate of fetal death has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. We assessed the impact of COVID-19 mitigation measures on fetal death in Sweden (449,347 births), Denmark (290,857 pregnancies) and Norway (261,057 pregnancies) using robust population-based registry data. We used Cox regression to assess the impact of the implementation of pandemic mitigation measures on March 12th, 2020, on miscarriage (fetal loss before gestational week 22) and stillbirth (fetal loss after gestational week 22). A total of 11% of 551,914 pregnancies in Denmark and Norway ended in miscarriage, while the proportion of stillbirths among 937,174 births across the three countries was 0.3%. There was no difference in the risk of fetal death during the year following pandemic mitigation measures. For miscarriage, the combined hazard ratio (HR) for Norway and Denmark was 1.01 (95% CI 0.98, 1.03), and for stillbirth, the combined HR for all three countries was 0.99 (95% CI 0.89, 1.09). We observed a slightly decreased risk of miscarriage during the first 4 months, with an HR of 0.94 (95% CI 0.90, 0.99) after lockdown. In conclusion, the risk of fetal death did not change after the implementation of COVID-19 pandemic mitigation measures in the three Scandinavian countries.

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Antepartum stillbirth rates during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Austria: A population‐based study

Cited by 16 publications

References 23 publications

COVID-19 pandemic impact on preterm birth and stillbirth rates associated with socioeconomic disparities: A quasi-experimental study

COVID-19 pandemic impact on preterm birth and stillbirth rates associated with socioeconomic disparities: A quasi-experimental study

Impact of the 1st Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Lockdown on In Utero Transfer Activity in the Paris Area, France

Fetal death after the introduction of COVID-19 mitigation measures in Sweden, Denmark and Norway: a registry-based study

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