Changes in preterm birth and birthweight during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: a nationwide study in South Korea

Birthweight is a strong determinant of a neonate’s health. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic’s impact on birthweight has not been investigated in-depth, with inconsistent conclusions from initial studies. To assess changes in preterm birth and inappropriate birthweight between the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and pre-pandemic periods. A nationwide birth micro-data consisted with exhaustive census of all births in 2011–2020 in South Korea was accessed to examine whether the mean birthweight and rates of under/overweight births changed significantly during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic year (2020) compared to those of the pre-pandemic period (2011–2019). A total of 3,736,447 singleton births were analyzed. Preterm birth was defined as < 37 weeks of gestation. Low birthweight (LBW) and macrosomia were defined as birthweights < 2.5 kg and ≥ 4.0 kg, respectively. Small for gestational age (SGA) and large for gestational age (LGA) were defined as birthweights below the 10th and above 90th percentiles for sex and gestational age, respectively. Inappropriate birthweight was defined as one or more LBW, macrosomia, SGA, or LGA. Generalized linear models predicted birth outcomes and were adjusted for parental age and education level, marital status, parity, gestational age, and months from January 2011. There were 3,481,423 and 255,024 singleton births during the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods, respectively. Multivariable generalized linear models estimated negative associations between the pandemic and preterm birth (odds ratio [OR], 0.968; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.958–0.978), LBW (OR: 0.967, 95% CI 0.956–0.979), macrosomia (OR: 0.899, 95% CI 0.886–0.912), SGA (OR: 0.974, 95% CI 0.964–0.983), LGA (OR: 0.952, 95% CI 0.945–0.959), and inappropriate birthweight (OR: 0.958, 95% CI 0.952–0.963), indicating a decline during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic period. An 8.98 g decrease in birthweight (95% CI 7.98–9.99) was estimated during the pandemic. This is the largest and comprehensive nationwide study to date on the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on preterm birth and inappropriate birthweight. Birth during the pandemic was associated with lower odds of being preterm, underweight, and overweight. Further studies are required to understand the dynamics underlying this phenomenon.