AUSTRALIAN mothers and their babies experienced some positive outcomes during the early years of the pandemic, new research from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has discovered.
The report, titled Maternal and perinatal outcomes during the 2020 and 2021 COVID-19 pandemic, looks at statistics from the National Perinatal Data Collection to determine outcomes during the first two years of COVID-19 in Australia (2020 and 2021), compared with what would have been expected based on trends in the four years prior to the pandemic (2015-2019).
There were several positive trends identified in 2020 and 2021 combined, including fewer babies born at a low birthweight and fewer requiring specialised care in a special nursery or neonatal intensive care unit; more women who birthed at home; fewer babies born pre-term; and a significant uptick in women who birthed without labour being induced.
However, pregnant women also experienced high levels of mental distress in the early stages of the pandemic, including depression, anxiety and stress, with a higher number experiencing high blood pressure compared to pre-COVID.
"In terms of the characteristics and risk factors of birthing mothers (such as age and weight), there didn't appear to be a change in these years," AIHW spokesperson Deanna Eldridge said.
"There was also no clear change in the stillbirth rate...and data from the National Maternal Mortality Data Collection suggest that there were no maternal deaths directly related to COVID-19 infection in 2020 or 2021."
AIHW conceded the study was unable to determine the causes of the observed changes, and said there is a possibility some of the positive outcomes were unrelated to the pandemic altogether. JM
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