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Birth rates in Europe fell by 14% in January / January 2021, compared to the same month in previous years.
A new study indicates that this decline is linked to the first general closure, to cope with the Corona epidemic.
And longer lockout periods have led to an even greater drop in the number of pregnant women, the study says.
The decline in birth rates was greatest in countries where health systems suffered most during the lockdown.
Lithuania and Romania saw the largest drop in birth rates, reaching 28% and 23% respectively.
As for Sweden, which has not imposed any kind of closure, it has only registered a slight decline, according to the study published in the Journal of Human Reproduction, “The Journal of Human Reproduction”.
The researchers say this could have long-term consequences for demographics, especially in Western European countries, which have high rates of older populations.
“The longer the lockdown, the lower the rate of pregnant women during that period, even in countries that were not severely affected by the epidemic,” said Leo Bomar, an obstetrician at Lausanne University Hospital.
He added: “We think couples were afraid of the health and social problems at that time, the first wave of closures, which contributed to the drop in birth rates, during the nine-month period thereafter.”
The study explains that social isolation measures, and the fears of the resulting economic crisis, were an “indirect factor that played a role in the couples’ decision to postpone the idea of pregnancy.”
England and Wales saw births drop by 13% in the same month, compared to 2019 and 2018, while the birth rate in Scotland fell by 14%.
As for France, it recorded a drop of 14%, while Spain recorded a birth rate of 23%.
And in March / In March 2021, birth rates returned to the same level as before the epidemic and this continued for between 9 and 10 months after the end of the general closure periods.
But the researchers say this return to normal hasn’t compensated for the loss in birth rates two months earlier.
Bomar said : The truth is that the return to normal birth rates did not compensate for the previous decline in January / January 2021, which could have long-term effects on demographics, especially in Western Europe, which has a large percentage of the elderly population.
