Impact of COVID-19 mitigation measures on perinatal outcomes in the Netherlands
Burgos Ochoa,L. Bertens,L. Boderie,N.W. Gravesteijn,B.Y. Obermann,S. Rosman,A. Struijs,Jeroen Labrecque,Jeremy de Groot,Christianne J. Been,Jasper
Burgos Ochoa,L.
Bertens,L.
Boderie,N.W.
Gravesteijn,B.Y.
Obermann,S.
Rosman,A.
Struijs,Jeroen
Labrecque,Jeremy
de Groot,Christianne J.
Been,Jasper
Abstract
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.
Description
Date
2024
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Research Projects
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Journal Issue
Keywords
SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Citation
Burgos Ochoa, L, Bertens, L, Boderie, N W, Gravesteijn, B Y, Obermann, S, Rosman, A, Struijs, J, Labrecque, J, de Groot, C J, Been, J, Ambrosino, E, den Auweele, K V, Been, J, Beijers, R, Bertens, L, Bloemenkamp, K, Boderie, N, Burdorf, L, Ochoa, L B, de Jonge, A, de Weerth, C, Franx, A, Harper, S, Kazemier, B M, Klein, P P, Kretz, D, Labrecque, J, Mol, B W, Muris, J, Nieuwenhuijze, M, Obermann, S, Oudijk, M, Peters, L, Ramerman, L, Ravelli, A, Rosman, A S, Schoenmakers, S, Struijs, J, Torij, H, Beukering, M V, van den Akker, T, van den Heuvel, M, van Dillen, J, van Lenthe, F, Ourti, T V, Verhoeff, A, Vermeulen, M, Visser, N & Willers, S 2024, 'Impact of COVID-19 mitigation measures on perinatal outcomes in the Netherlands', Public Health, vol. 236, pp. 322-327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2024.09.002
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info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess