COVID Social Distancing Linked to Newborn Mortality and Preterm Births, Study Finds

The authors believe that disrupted prenatal care contributed to newborn mortality.

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Pandemic social distancing is linked to higher rates of preterm births and newborn deaths within one to two months, according to a new study.

In a study published Thursday in JAMA Network Open, researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) evaluated over 18 million births in Alabama from 2016 to 2020, comparing prepandemic years to the period after officials enacted public health restrictions in March 2020.