The number of births nine months after the peak of the first lockdown fell by an average of 14 percent in 24 European countries, including Austria, as obstetrics specialist Léo Pomar from the University of Lausanne reports with colleagues in the journal Human Reproduction.
Minus in Austria relatively low
The result was mainly influenced by 13 countries in which the decline in births ranged from 12 to 28 percent. The number rose particularly strongly in January 2021 Lithuania (28.1 percent), the Ukraine (24.4 percent) and Spain (23.5 percent) back, but also in Italy, Portugal or France. In Austria However, the minus of minus 3.4 percent was relatively small.
The scientists looked at the national number of live births in January 2021 and compared it with the average for the months of January 2018 and January 2019. Among 24 countries, only in Finland and Denmark more babies born than in the same period. The corona measures were different in every country, but practically everywhere amounted to a lockdown, i.e. a restriction of social life. Only Sweden did not have a lockdown.
The possible causes
“The longer the lockdown lasted, the fewer the number of pregnancies that occurred, even in countries that weren’t very badly affected by the pandemic,” Pomar said of the study. In conclusion, the authors write: “Measures such as social distancing and social distancing, fears related to the pathogen, and the social and economic crisis may be indirect factors playing a role in couples’ decisions to postpone pregnancy.”
Source: Nachrichten
