ArticleScientific reports2022
Changes in preterm birth and birthweight during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: a nationwide study in South Korea.
Article in Scientific reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 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
- Trial
- Impact of COVID-19 Control Measures on Birth Outcomes in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.Journal of preventive medicine and public health = Yebang Uihakhoe chi · 2025Article
- Rising public costs of preterm infant hospitalization in South Korea from a nationwide observational study.Scientific reports · 2025Observational
- In-Utero Maternal-to-Fetal Transmission of COVID-19: An Immunological and Virological Study in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.Infection and drug resistance · 2025Article
- Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal-fetal outcomes in a nonepidemic designated hospital: a retrospective study and clinical experience summary.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Evaluating Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae screening and treatment among asymptomatic pregnant women to prevent preterm birth and low birthweight in Gaborone, Botswana: A secondary analysis from a non-randomised, cluster-controlled trial.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2024Article
- Socioeconomic disparities in changes to preterm birth and stillbirth rates during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: a study of 21 European countries.European journal of public health · 2024Article
- Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on low birth weight in a nationwide study in India.Communications medicine · 2024Article
- Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the rates of adverse birth outcomes and fetal mortality in Japan: an analysis of national data from 2010 to 2022.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Association of COVID-19 pandemic societal closures with gestational weight gain among women in South Carolina, 2018-2021.Annals of epidemiology · 2024Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on Perinatal Outcomes and Birth Locations in a Large US Metropolitan Area.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Birthweight is a strong determinant of a neonate's health. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic's impact on birthweight has not been investigated in-depth, with inconsistent conclusions from initial studies. To assess changes in preterm birth and inappropriate birthweight between the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and pre-pandemic periods. A nationwide birth micro-data consisted with exhaustive census of all births in 2011-2020 in South Korea was accessed to examine whether the mean birthweight and rates of under/overweight births changed significantly during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic year (2020) compared to those of the pre-pandemic period (2011-2019). A total of 3,736,447 singleton births were analyzed. Preterm birth was defined as < 37 weeks of gestation. Low birthweight (LBW) and macrosomia were defined as birthweights < 2.5 kg and ≥ 4.0 kg, respectively. Small for gestational age (SGA) and large for gestational age (LGA) were defined as birthweights below the 10th and above 90th percentiles for sex and gestational age, respectively. Inappropriate birthweight was defined as one or more LBW, macrosomia, SGA, or LGA. Generalized linear models predicted birth outcomes and were adjusted for parental age and education level, marital status, parity, gestational age, and months from January 2011. There were 3,481,423 and 255,024 singleton births during the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods, respectively. Multivariable generalized linear models estimated negative associations between the pandemic and preterm birth (odds ratio [OR], 0.968; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.958-0.978), LBW (OR: 0.967, 95% CI 0.956-0.979), macrosomia (OR: 0.899, 95% CI 0.886-0.912), SGA (OR: 0.974, 95% CI 0.964-0.983), LGA (OR: 0.952, 95% CI 0.945-0.959), and inappropriate birthweight (OR: 0.958, 95% CI 0.952-0.963), indicating a decline during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic period. An 8.98 g decrease in birthweight (95% CI 7.98-9.99) was estimated during the pandemic. This is the largest and comprehensive nationwide study to date on the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on preterm birth and inappropriate birthweight. Birth during the pandemic was associated with lower odds of being preterm, underweight, and overweight. Further studies are required to understand the dynamics underlying this phenomenon.
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