Obstetric Intervention and Perinatal Outcomes During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic

To quantify pandemic-related changes in obstetric intervention and perinatal outcomes in the United States.

We carried out a retrospective study of all live births and fetal deaths in the United States, 2015-2021, with data obtained from the natality, fetal death, and linked live birth-infant death files of the National Center for Health Statistics. Analyses were carried out among all singletons; singletons of patients with prepregnancy diabetes, prepregnancy hypertension, and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy; and twins. Outcomes of interest included preterm birth, preterm labor induction or preterm cesarean delivery, macrosomia, postterm birth, and perinatal death. Interrupted time series analyses were used to estimate changes in the prepandemic period (January 2015-February 2020), at pandemic onset (March 2020), and in the pandemic period (March 2020-December 2021).

The study population included 26,604,392 live births and 155,214 stillbirths. The prepandemic period was characterized by temporal increases in preterm birth and preterm labor induction or cesarean delivery rates and temporal reductions in macrosomia, postterm birth, and perinatal mortality. Pandemic onset was associated with absolute decreases in preterm birth (decrease of 0.322/100 live births, 95% CI 0.506-0.139) and preterm labor induction or cesarean delivery (decrease of 0.190/100 live births, 95% CI 0.334-0.047) and absolute increases in macrosomia (increase of 0.046/100 live births), postterm birth (increase of 0.015/100 live births), and perinatal death (increase of 0.501/1,000 total births, 95% CI 0.220-0.783). These changes were larger in subpopulations at high risk (eg, among singletons of patients with prepregnancy diabetes). Among singletons of patients with prepregnancy diabetes, pandemic onset was associated with a decrease in preterm birth (decrease of 1.634/100 live births) and preterm labor induction or cesarean delivery (decrease of 1.521/100 live births) and increases in macrosomia (increase of 0.328/100 live births) and perinatal death (increase of 9.840/1,000 total births, 95% CI 3.933-15.75). Most changes were reversed in the months after pandemic onset.

The onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was associated with a transient decrease in obstetric intervention (especially preterm labor induction or cesarean delivery) and a transient increase in perinatal mortality.