04.04.2024New paper on neonatal health in Switzerland, and how it changes during periods of crises

We are happy to share a paper that was released last week in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth along with some of our collaborators. We explored time trends in birth weight and in the rates of preterm birth and stillbirth. While the rate of preterm birth slightly decreased since 2007, the other parameters were virtually unchanged. When the mother was exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic during pregnancy, and especially during the last trimester, birth weight was increased by a dozen of grams. Our results align with existing literature reporting a birth weight increase during COVID-19 lockdowns. This might be due to the mother adopting a more sedentary lifestyle, working from home, exercising less and potentially changing her diet.

In the Figure, we see that birth weight mostly kept constant in all subgroups investigated. Still, we note consistent differences between some groups: for instance, neonates born in German-speaking Switzerland have a higher birth weight than those from the French and Italian-speaking regions.