The year 2020 has impact on the daily lives of the entire planet. Most of the people in the world have experienced a period more or less long, of containment. However, according to two studies, one irish and one Danish, it would seem that the consequences of this containment are far more varied than we could foresee. In addition to lifestyle changes, this period would have had a significant impact on premature births of children. Thursday, August 13, The Parisian-echoes of the two studies that have noted a fairly sharp decline in premature births during the confinement.
In Denmark, the study was national in scope, observed a 90% reduction in preterm birth (before 28 weeks) during the confinement period from 12 march to 14 April. The data were compared with the number of such births in the previous five years, says The Irish Times.
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According to the results of the irish study, this time based on the data provided by the maternity hospital in Limerick, in the west of the country, the number of infants weighing less than 1.5 kg at birth – an important indicator for researchers – has also greatly decreased during the confinement. Between the months of January and April of this year, two out of every 1 000 have proven to be premature. Between 2001 and 2019, on these same months, the number of these births was to average eight. This represents a fall of 73 %.
studies that call for further research
How do you explain these results ? According to the indications from the Parisian paediatrician, Jean-Christophe Rozé, the CHU of Nantes and president of the French Society of neonatology, ” there is the woman’s age, multiple pregnancies, which increase the risks and the socio-economic conditions that affect the maternity “. But other factors, more external, can also come into play. This is the case, for example, pollution, stress, lack of sleep or risk of infection. Gold, recalls the professor Laurent Salomon, a gynecologist or obstetrician at the hospital Necker, ” during the confinement, we lived in a cocoon and one washing his hands 25 times per day “. The risk of catching a infection therefore, de facto, largely declined.
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But, according to these experts, the data provided by the studies, irish and Danish does not suffice to themselves, and call for further research further. “During the confinement, there has been less consultation that could give rise to birth caused [some babies are delivered before term because of health reasons, ED.]. […] This is like saying that, because there has been less consultation in oncology, there are fewer cancers. It has no meaning, then, it is necessary to wait to know more, ” says Lawrence Solomon. According to him, the two studies are “working hypotheses” that are of interest for further research, but that is all.
