Those who have reconsidered adding to their family in the last two years are not alone–the number of births during the pandemic are down.
A local midwife says that not only are people reconsidering whether to give birth or not during the pandemic, but many are also reconsidering how they give birth.
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Lindsey Stidham said that in her line of work as a reproductive advocate and midwife, she’s witnessed more families with concerns about giving birth.
Stidham said some of these concerns include people not wanting to be in hospitals, have their babies in hospitals and not knowing who they can bring as a support.
Brookings estimates there were 60,000 fewer births between October 2020 and February 2021, but in March 2021 there was somewhat of a bounce back.
“I think that there were people kind of on the fence about having babies before were like ‘maybe this is a good time…We’re home,’” Stidham said.
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News Center 7 reached out to Dr. David McKenna, an OBGYN at Miami Valley Hospital, for his take on the Brookings study.
“I think there has been some decrease in births,” McKenna said.
While not an expert on this particular study, Dr. McKenna noted that births nationally were already declining before the pandemic.
McKenna said starting in 2005, deliveries have been really going down in the United States.
The biggest birthrate declines seen in data from the CDC are among more highly educated women, those who already had at least one child and those in their late 30s and early 40s.
McKenna said it’s based on disparities because people able to plan their pregnancies tend to be from higher socioeconomic backgrounds.
“If patients are delaying their pregnancies because of COVID then we’re seeing a proportionally more of unintended deliveries, which often times will be higher risk,” McKenna said.
The study further suggests that as people continue to feel more optimistic throughout the pandemic that they’re more likely to consider giving birth.
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