Antepartum stillbirth rates during the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria: A population-based study.

Muin, Dana A; Neururer, Sabrina; Falcone, Veronica; Windsperger, Karin; Helmer, Hanns; Leitner, Hermann; Kiss, Herbert; Farr, Alex

BACKGROUND The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (COVID-19) had dramatic effects on the pregnant population worldwide, increasing the risk of adverse perinatal outcomes. OBJECTIVE To assess the incidence of aSB during the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria. METHODS We collected epidemiological data from the Austrian Birth Registry and compared the rate of aSB (i.e., fetal death ≥24+0 gestational weeks) during the pandemic period (March-December 2020) and in the respective pre-pandemic months (2015-2019). RESULTS In total, 65 660 pregnancies were included, of which 171 resulted in aSB at 33.7±4.8 gestational weeks. During the pandemic, the aSB increased from 2.49 to 2.60‰ (p=0.601), opposing a significant decline in preterm deliveries ≤37 gestational weeks from 0.61 to 0.56‰ (RR 0.93; 95% CI 0.91, 0.96; p<0.001). During the first lockdown, the aSB rate significantly increased from 2.38 to 3.52‰ (p=0.021), yielding an aOR of 1.57 (95% CI 1.08, 2.27; p=0.018). The event of aSB during the COVID-19 pandemic was strongly related with increased fetal weight, and maternal obesity. CONCLUSION In Austria, there has been an overall increase in the incidence of aSB during the pandemic with a significant peak during the first lockdown.