AUTHOR=Lorenzi Marine , Mayerus Mathilde , Eleni Dit Trolli Sergio , Hue-Bigé Amandine , Legueult Kévin , Guellec-Renne Isabelle , François-Garret Bérengère 

TITLE=An evaluation of the association between lockdown during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and prematurity at the Nice University Hospital

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pediatrics

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pediatrics/articles/10.3389/fped.2023.1201423

DOI=10.3389/fped.2023.1201423

ISSN=2296-2360

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Aim</title><p>To study the association between lockdown in France due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and premature births at the Nice University Hospital.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>Data concerning neonates born at the level III maternity of the Nice University Hospital and immediately hospitalised in the neonatal reanimation unit or the neonatology department of the hospital with their mothers between the 1st of January 2017 and the 31st of December 2020, included.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>We did not find a significant decrease in the global number of premature births &lt;37 weeks of gestation, in low weight at birth or a significant increase in stillbirths during lockdown compared to a period with no lockdown. The profiles of the mothers and their newborns were compared when birth occurred during lockdown vs. no lockdown.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>We did not find any evidence of an association between lockdown and prematurity at the Nice University Hospital. This result is in agreement with meta-analyses published in the medical literature. The possible decrease in factors of risk of prematurity during lockdown is controversial.</p></sec>