TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of COVID-19 mitigation measures on perinatal outcomes in the Netherlands
AU - Burgos Ochoa, Lizbeth
AU - Bertens, Loes
AU - Boderie, Nienke
AU - Gravesteijn, Benjamin Y.
AU - Obermann, Sylvia
AU - Rosman, Ageeth
AU - Struijs, Jeroen
AU - Labrecque, Jeremy
AU - de Groot, Christianne J.
AU - Been, Jasper
AU - Ambrosino, Elena
AU - Van den Auweele, Kim
AU - Been, Jasper
AU - Beijers, Roseriet
AU - Bertens, Loes
AU - Bloemenkamp, Kitty
AU - Boderie, Nienke
AU - Burdorf, Lex
AU - Burgos Ochoa, Lizbeth
AU - de Jonge, Ank
AU - de Weerth, Caroline
AU - Franx, Arie
AU - Harper, Sam
AU - Kazemier, Brenda M.
AU - Klein, Peter Paul
AU - Kretz, Daniëlle
AU - Mol, Ben Willem
AU - Muris, Jean
AU - Nieuwenhuijze, Marianne
AU - Obermann, Sylvia
AU - Oudijk, Martijn
AU - Peters, Lilian
AU - Ramerman, Lotte
AU - Ravelli, Anita
AU - Schonewille- Rosman, Ageeth
AU - Schoenmakers, Sam
AU - Torij, Hanneke
AU - Van Beukering, Monique
AU - van den Akker, Thomas
AU - van den Heuvel, Marion
AU - van Dillen, Jeroen
AU - van Lenthe, Frank
AU - Van Ourti, Tom
AU - Verhoeff, Arnoud
AU - Vermeulen, Marijn
AU - Visser, Nettie
AU - Willers, Saskia
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors
PY - 2024/11
Y1 - 2024/11
N2 - Objective: Investigate the acute impact of COVID-19 mitigation measures implemented in March 2020 on a comprehensive range of perinatal outcomes. Study design: National registry-based quasi-experimental study. Methods: 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. Results: 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. Conclusions: 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.
AB - Objective: Investigate the acute impact of COVID-19 mitigation measures implemented in March 2020 on a comprehensive range of perinatal outcomes. Study design: National registry-based quasi-experimental study. Methods: 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. Results: 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. Conclusions: 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.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85204049529&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.puhe.2024.09.002
DO - 10.1016/j.puhe.2024.09.002
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85204049529
SN - 0033-3506
VL - 236
SP - 322
EP - 327
JO - Public Health
JF - Public Health
ER -