Main findings
In this study covering 84.3 % of the live births in Italy, we found
that being born during COVID-19 pandemics was associated with a
reduction of the risk of PTB, as a whole and in all subgroups, compared
with the years before. On the contrary, stillbirth rate was not
affected. Even though in Italy a decreasing trend in the overall
prevalence of PTB was already present in the historical period (from
2017 onwards), we were able to show a further reduction once the
lockdown and mitigation strategies were enforced. The reduction was
particularly evident for all the Regions and all GA classes in the last
months of 2020.