{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,29]],"date-time":"2026-06-29T11:08:06Z","timestamp":1782731286847,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":18,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,29]],"date-time":"2023-03-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1680048000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J of Obstet and Gynaecol"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2023,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title><jats:p>Controversies exist on whether the pandemic lockdown has resulted in a lower rate of preterm deliveries. A higher stillbirth rate was also reported. This retrospective observational study aimed to examine the rate of preterm delivery and stillbirth in a tertiary hospital in Hong Kong during COVID\u201019 pandemic.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Data from 8787 singleton pregnancies at Queen Mary Hospital between April 2018 to September 2021 were retrieved from the clinical management system and obstetric database. Rates of preterm delivery (&lt;37\u2009weeks), low birth weight infants (&lt;2500\u2009g), and stillbirth in the pre\u2010pandemic (April 2018 to September 2019) and pandemic (April 2020 to September 2021) periods were compared.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Total numbers of singleton deliveries during the pre\u2010pandemic and pandemic periods were 5064 and 3723, respectively. Background demographics were comparable, except 3 were higher rates of cesarean sections (30.7% vs. 25.8%; <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&lt;\u20090.05) and hypertensive disorders (1.4% vs. 0.7%; <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&lt;\u20090.05) in the pandemic cohort. Moreover, more women with a spontaneous onset of labor had a history of preterm delivery (3.5% vs. 2.4%; <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&lt;\u20090.05) during the pandemic. Rates of low birth weight infants (8.7% vs. 7.4%; <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.03) and spontaneous preterm deliveries (2.6% vs. 1.7%; <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.01), particularly spontaneous moderate\u2010to\u2010late preterm delivery (32\u201336\u2009weeks) (1.9% vs. 1.2%; <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.01) were significantly higher during COVID\u201019. However, no statistical difference was found in stillbirth rates (0.2% vs. 0.4%; <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.17).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>Rates of spontaneous preterm delivery and low birth weight babies increased significantly during the COVID\u201019 pandemic. This could be related to an increase in maternal stress, or a change in behavioral patterns for pregnant women.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1111\/jog.15643","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,29]],"date-time":"2023-03-29T13:34:00Z","timestamp":1680096840000},"page":"1539-1544","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Impact of <scp>COVID<\/scp>\u201019 pandemic on preterm delivery"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"49","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5461-3302","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Albee Hin Man","family":"Mak","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics &amp; Gynaecology Queen Mary Hospital  Pok Fu Lam Hong Kong"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Simona","family":"Cicero","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics &amp; Gynaecology University of Hong Kong, School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong  Pok Fu Lam Hong Kong"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7376-7307","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pui Wah","family":"Hui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics &amp; Gynaecology Queen Mary Hospital  Pok Fu Lam Hong Kong"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_7_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/archdischild-2020-319990"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjgh-2020-003075"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S2468-2667(20)30223-1"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7326\/M20-6367"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1503\/cmaj.210081"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjgh-2021-006359"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/jog.15203"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2021.705943"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_10_1","article-title":"Behavioural adaptations and responses to obstetric care among pregnant women during an early stage of the COVID\u201019 pandemic in Hong Kong: a cross\u2010sectional survey","volume":"28","author":"Hui PW","year":"2022","journal-title":"Hong Kong Med J"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12884-021-04268-5"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.midw.2022.103293"},{"issue":"2","key":"e_1_2_7_13_1","first-page":"113","article-title":"Effect of COVID\u201019 on delivery plans and postnatal depression scores of pregnant women","volume":"27","author":"Hui PW","year":"2021","journal-title":"Hong Kong Med J"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/070674370404900609"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jad.2020.07.126"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_16_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/aje\/kwf176"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_17_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1515\/jpm-2012-0295"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_18_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/AOG.0000000000004302"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_19_1","unstructured":"Epidemic curve by confirmation date and stratified by case classifications.HKU Med LKS Faculty of Medicine School of Public Health. 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