Worldwide, the number of preterm births decreased as a result of the pandemic-related lockdowns. These numbers come from a study published in “Nature Human Behavior” that looked at more than 52 million births across 26 nations, excluding Spain. The data also reveals that throughout the first four months of the Covid-19 ban, stillbirth rates were constant.

According to research, premature births were reduced by 3-4% overall, preventing up to 50,000 preterm births just in the first month of lockdown. Preterm birth rates did, however, fall, but primarily in high-income nations like Australia.

Professor David Burgner, the co-director of the Murdoch Children’s Research Center, said that the decrease in preterm births may have been brought on by fewer non-Covid illnesses as a result of better hygiene habits and less air pollution during the lockdown.

Inflammation was known to be brought on by infections and air pollution, which led to premature births.

Although the underlying causes are mostly unknown, preterm delivery is the biggest cause of infant mortality worldwide. Preterm birth rates dropped by up to 90% in Denmark and extremely low birth weight rates dropped by 70% in Ireland during the Covid-19 lockdowns, but data from Nepal show the reverse tendency, which increases stillbirths.

Over 14.8 million preterm births occur year, so even a small decrease might have a significant impact on birth patterns worldwide, he asserts.

In the first month of confinement, we believe we saved close to 50,000 preterm babies. It may have an impact on clinical practice and policy to understand the underlying mechanisms correlating lockdown with a decrease in premature births.

The study discovered no variations in stillbirth rates across high-income nations. In Australia, there are roughly 7.2 stillbirths per 1,000 live births, or about 2,000 infants every year.

The discovery might aid in the better understanding of preterm birth’s causes, which are frustratingly perplexing to medical science.