ArticleBMC pregnancy and childbirth2021
Association between COVID-19 lockdown measures and the incidence of iatrogenic versus spontaneous very preterm births in the Netherlands: a retrospective study.
Article in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- The association of COVID-19 lockdowns with adverse birth and pregnancy outcomes in 28 high-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Nature human behaviour · 2025Pooled it
- Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Public health · 2022Pooled it
- Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in High-Income Countries and the Associated Maternal-Infant Health Outcomes: A Systematic Literature and Policy Review.Health science reports · 2026Review
- Association between COVID-19 outbreak and preterm birth rates in a low-infection cohort from a tertiary Shanghai maternity center: a retrospective study.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Examining the severity of illness in pregnant women infected with COVID-19 during three waves of the disease in Ahvaz, Iran.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Observational
- The impact of changes in health policies caused by COVID-19 on pregnancy outcomes in Iran during health crises: A retrospective quasi-experimental study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Seasonal Patterns of Preterm Birth During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Cohort Study in Romania.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- Social distancing and extremely preterm births in the initial COVID-19 pandemic period.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2024Article
- Trends in preterm birth in the Netherlands in 2011-2019: A population-based study among singletons and multiples.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2024Article
- Changes in the Prevalence of Infection in Pregnant Women during the COVID-19 Lockdown.Microorganisms · 2023Article
- The Temporal Relationship Between the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic and Preterm Birth.Obstetrics and gynecology · 2023Observational
- Exposure to the early COVID-19 pandemic and early, moderate and overall preterm births in the United States: A conception cohort approach.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2023Article
- Fewer Preterm Births in the First COVID-19 Pandemic Year? An Evaluation of the Berlin Perinatal Data for the Years 2017 to 2020.Geburtshilfe und Frauenheilkunde · 2023Article
- Impact of the 1st Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Lockdown on In Utero Transfer Activity in the Paris Area, France.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Limited Effects of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic-related Lockdowns and Reduced Population Mobility on Preterm Birth Rates: A Secondary Analysis of Bavarian Obstetric Quality Parameters from 2010 to 2020.Geburtshilfe und Frauenheilkunde · 2022Article
- Obstetrics and Gynecology Emergency Department Activity during Lockdown in a Teaching Hospital, Hub Center, for COVID-19.Obstetrics and gynecology international · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 10 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic led to regional or nationwide lockdowns as part of risk mitigation measurements in many countries worldwide. Recent studies suggest an unexpected and unprecedented decrease in preterm births during the initial COVID-19 lockdowns in the first half of 2020. The objective of the current study was to assess the effects of the two months of the initial national COVID-19 lockdown period on the incidence of very and extremely preterm birth in the Netherlands, stratified by either spontaneous or iatrogenic onset of delivery, in both singleton and multiple pregnancies.
methodsRetrospective cohort study using data from all 10 perinatal centers in the Netherlands on very and extremely preterm births during the initial COVID-19 lockdown from March 15 to May 15, 2020. Incidences of very and extremely preterm birth were calculated using an estimate of the total number of births in the Netherlands in this period. As reference, we used data from the corresponding calendar period in 2015-2018 from the national perinatal registry (Perined). We differentiated between spontaneous versus iatrogenic onset of delivery and between singleton versus multiple pregnancies.
resultsThe incidence of total preterm birth < 32 weeks in singleton pregnancies was 6.1‰ in the study period in 2020 versus 6.5‰ in the corresponding period in 2015-2018. The decrease in preterm births in singletons was solely due to a significant decrease in iatrogenic preterm births, both < 32 weeks (OR 0.71; 95%CI 0.53 to 0.95) and < 28 weeks (OR 0.53; 95%CI 0.29 to 0.97). For multiple pregnancies, an increase in preterm births < 28 weeks was observed (OR 2.43; 95%CI 1.35 to 4.39).
conclusionThis study shows a decrease in iatrogenic preterm births during the initial COVID-19-related lockdown in the Netherlands in singletons. Future studies should focus on the mechanism of action of lockdown measures and reduction of preterm birth and the effects of perinatal outcome.
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