Covid infection caused surge in preterm births, vaccines helped bring it down: US study
New Delhi, Nov 29 (PTI) COVID-19 caused an alarming surge in premature births, but vaccines were key to returning the early birth rate to pre-pandemic levels, researchers have found analysing birth records in California, US.
Maternal COVID-19 infection increased the probability of preterm delivery, which is birth occurring before 37 weeks of gestation, by 1.2 percentage points, from 7.1 to 8.3 per cent, the researchers said.
“To move the needle on preterm birth that much is akin to a disastrous environmental exposure, like weeks of breathing intense wildfire smoke,” said researcher Jenna Nobles, a University of Wisconsin-Madison sociology professor.
