COVID-19 lockdown associated with decline in preterm C-sections

Editor's Note

Data from the National Center for Health Statistics shows a 0.4% decline in cesarean and induced deliveries for preterm births during the COVID-10 pandemic lockdown, between March and December 2020, according to researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta.

The researchers also noted other birth trends, including an increase in home births from 1.03% to 1.26% in 2020 and an 8% drop in teen births in 2020.

The findings for fewer caesarean and induced deliveries could be because of less time seeing an obstetrician in person during the lockdown, which resulted in fewer diagnoses of indications for delivery, the authors say.