Covid-19 fears 'may have led to 14% drop in live births' in Europe

Researchers said that Europe saw a 14% drop in the number of babies born in January 2021 compared to live births in the same month in previous years – likely sparked by fears of a Covid-19 health crisis during the first wave of the pandemic.

Scientists from Switzerland said countries with the toughest lockdowns in early 2020 and overcrowded intensive care units experienced the biggest drop in live births nine to 10 months later.

The team said these findings, published in the journal Human Reproduction, could lead to “long-term implications for demographics, particularly in western Europe where there is an aging population.”

dr Leo Pomar, midwifery sonographer at Lausanne University Hospital and associate professor at the School of Health Sciences in Lausanne, Switzerland – and first author of the study, said: “The drop in births nine months into the pandemic appears to be more common in countries where health systems were struggling and hospitals were overflowing.

“This led to lockdowns and social distancing measures to contain the pandemic.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, the "skilled labor shortage and the working conditions in nursing care have come even more into focus." (Photo: Pixabay)

“The longer the lockdowns lasted, the fewer pregnancies occurred during this period, even in countries that were not badly affected by the pandemic.

“We believe couples’ fears of a health and social crisis at the time of the first wave of Covid-19 contributed to a decline in live births nine months later.”

England and Wales saw live births fall by 13% in January 2021 compared to January 2018 and 2019 – while the number of babies born in Scotland fell by 14%.

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Lithuania and Romania recorded the largest decreases in live births, at 28% and 23% respectively.

Sweden, which had no lockdown but had a high number of deaths, saw no drop in live births, the researchers found.

The team found that the length of lockdowns was the only factor associated with the decline in live births in January 2021 compared to January 2019 and January 2018.

dr Pomar said: “The link we found to the duration of lockdowns may reflect a much more complex phenomenon, as lockdowns are government decisions used as a last resort to contain a pandemic.

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“The length of the lockdown has a direct impact on couples.”

While live births recovered, March 2021 was the only month with a live birth rate similar to the monthly rate before the pandemic, the researchers said.

However, they added that this recovery does not appear to offset the January 2021 drop in birth rates.

dr Pomar said: “The fact that the increase in births does not appear to offset the decline in January 2021 could have long-term implications for demographics, particularly in Western Europe where the population is aging.”

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Christian De Geyter, a professor at the University of Basel, Switzerland, who is deputy editor of Human Reproduction, said data on the impact of lockdowns on couples seeking fertility treatment is not yet available.

Prof De Geyter, who was not involved in the study, said: “These observations are important because they show that human reproductive behavior, as evidenced by the number of live births, changes during dramatic events, epidemics and global crises .”

Source: canadatoday