COVID-19 and lockdown: Impact on pregnancy complications

Objective. - The COVID-19 lockdown led to the establishment of a national lockdown in France from March 17th to May 11th, 2020. The purpose of our study is to evaluate the impact of lockdown on the rate of hospitalization for threatened preterm delivery and on the rate of preterm delivery. Methods. - Multicenter retrospective epidemiological study carried out over the lockdown period from March 15th to May 31st, 2020 compared to the same period over the previous two years (2018 and 2019) in Picardy hospitals (University Hospital center Amiens Picardie, Hospital Center of Beauvais, Compiegne and Saint-Quentin). Results. - In total, 608 patients were included. Our study shows a decrease in hospitalisations (207 in 2019 vs. 176 in 2020). We find a significant reduction in Premature Ruptures of Membranes (16.9% [73/ 432] in 2018/2019 vs. 9.7% [17/176] in 2020; P = 0.02) and also in the preterm delivery rate (9.3% (276/ 2961) in 2018/2019 vs. 6.8% [96/1416] in 2020; P < 0.05). Conclusion. - A reduction in the rate of preterm birth is observed during the first lockdown's period. It would also be interesting to evaluate the psychological impact of lockdown. (c) 2021 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.