Why did premature births fall during lockdown?
Great News About Births During Covid-19 by Andreas Kluth
See the quote below for one speculative but interesting answer. The key question here of course is how many other unmeasured costs there are due to elevated levels of economic activity. This is a very visible and immediately observable cost — but what about the effect on long-term creativity or cognition for example?
Quote:
One explanation for fewer premature births may be the decreases in air pollution during the lockdowns, as fewer people drove or flew and factories belched less. Another factor could be that the moms-to-be had fewer infections generally — and thus less inflammation in their bodies — as we reduced contact with people and germs and obsessively washed hands. But the most obvious and plausible reason appears to be that for many expecting moms, though decidedly not all, the lockdowns reduced stress.