Ireland’s COVID-19 lockdown measures, known to be among the toughest in Europe, have delayed the speech and social development of newborn babies, a new study suggests.
According to researchers at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Irish babies born during the early months of the pandemic lockdown are meeting fewer developmental milestones in speech and communication than children born before the pandemic.
In March of that year, the Irish government shut down all indoor and outdoor sporting activities, closed all pubs and playgrounds, and required citizens to stay at home, with workers of “essential businesses” being allowed to travel no more than 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away from where they lived. In April, the Irish police were authorized to arrest lockdown breakers without a warrant and punish them with a fine of up to 2,500 euros (about $2,700 at that time), up to six months imprisonment, or a combination of both. The island nation continued to struggle in a back-and-forth of easing and tightening these measures in the year that followed.
When those 309 babies turned one year old, the researchers asked the parents to rate how well their children perform in 10 criteria, including the ability to crawl, sidestep along furniture, stand up, pick up tiny objects with thumb and index finger, stack bricks, finger feed, know their own name, express one definite and meaningful word, point at objects, and wave goodbye.
When comparing with 1,629 1-year-olds from a pre-pandemic study, pandemic babies are less likely to be able to express one definite and meaningful word (77 percent vs 89 percent), point at objects (84 percent vs 93 percent), or wave goodbye (88 percent vs 94.5 percent).
“Lockdown measures may have impacted the scope of language heard and sight of unmasked faces speaking to them, while also curtailing opportunities to encounter new items of interest which might prompt pointing, and the frequency of social contacts to enable them to learn to wave,” said leading author Dr. Jonathan Hourihane, who directs the RCSI’s pediatric department.
Meanwhile, pandemic babies were also found to be more able to crawl than their pre-pandemic counterparts (97.5 percent vs 91 percent). Hourihane said this also might have to do with the fact that they spent a lot of time being confined together with their parents at home.
“[This] might be because they were more likely to have spent more time at home and on the ground, with siblings home from school and parents working from home or isolating, rather than out of the home in cars and strollers,” he said.
“However, due to the observational nature of this study, more research is required to determine cause and effect,” the professor added.
Another leading author, Dr. Susan Byrne of the RCSI, said she was hopeful that the developmental delays described in the study will be reversed as Ireland returns to its pre-pandemic norms.
“Babies are resilient and inquisitive by nature, and it is very likely that with societal re-emergence and increase in social circles that their social communication skills will improve,” Byrne said. “However, this cohort and the global population of pandemic babies it represents will need to be followed up to school age to ensure that this is the case.”
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