Fewer premature babies born since Covid-19 lockdown

Potential upstream causes:

"One is social distancing, which may have cut down on the amount of general infection from contact with others.

Another is less air pollution, from fewer cars being on the roads."

I'd love to see increased incentive for cities to act hastily on reducing <pm2.5 air pollution. Talk about a covert inequality exacerbator.

The stress of non-cummuting may have been offset by the stress of 'OMG there's a pandemic' - a more existential kind of things.

The Scientologists have some very aggressive rules about 'quiet' around baby and birth, rather extremist, but I think there is something to it.

Even in the womb, we are picking up information - imagine all the noise, hormones, moving around etc. we get from pre-birth to age 1.

I wonder if we should head out to the countryside 3 months before and after.

It would be powerful to see more research into this, because the results could be revelatory not just in relation to birth, but in other life activities.

Edit: I'm not suggesting there's any 'Science' in 'Scientology', rather, it's an expansive and odd cult with just a ton on out-of-the-box thinking, a lot of it initiated way back when treatment of mental illness was actually draconian (ie lobotomies, arbitrary detention, brutal treatment) and there are often 'kernels of truth' in some of these things. The 'quiet during and around birthing' always struck me as something actually rational in a way. Not scientific either but Glenn Gould attributed his musical genius to the fact his mother would play softly while he was still the womb (thus he's literally been playing 'before he was born') and I don't think it's unreasonable at all to think 'maybe there is something to it'. Early childhood events have incredible impact on our lives. I think of it like 'the time when the kernel code is established' and things gone wayward at that level cause idiosyncrasies for the rest of one's life.

Heart attacks are similarly down 40-60%.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/well/live/coronavirus-doc...

And cancer diagnoses are down by half.

https://youtu.be/TWF8KLKy-I0

Of course, no, they aren’t down, it’s just that people that absolutely should be going to the hospital aren’t and they’re endangering their lives trying to avoid COVID-19.

Could something similar be at play here?

I laughed out loud when they suggested that this is a “low stress” time to be pregnant. All indicators show the opposite.

Here is entirely anecdotal speculation as to why this is happening (credentials - mom of two). In the late stages of pregnancy the uterus starts preparing for birth by doing Braxton hicks contractions. The uterus flexes its muscles. They get stronger and physically push the baby down like a ping pong ball coming out of a balloon. BH contractions are also like clock ticks to pregnancy, the closer you get to delivery the more frequent and stronger they get. If you get dehydrated, they accelerate. If you get stressed out or exhausted, they accelerate. If you skip a meal, they accelerate. Late stage pregnancy mothers legitimately need less physical strain and more opportunity to take care of their bodies or the baby comes early. Keeping the same active pace of work for a few weeks in the third trimester can cost years of additional effort and suffering as a premature baby may accrue permanent damage. Remote work allows for your body to rest while your brains can work at full speed for longer. It is challenging to make “remote“ work right now, but for my part, I’m constantly prototyping and brainstorming ways to make the experience better. We can do so much more in our lifetimes if reduce the dangerous commutes.