Conclusions
We demonstrated a decrease in the rate of PTB after implementation of
measures for COVID-19 mitigation in Italy, without an increase in
stillbirths. Our results are in line with those obtained in other
developed countries and, above all, in many European countries, where
both COVID 19 restrictions and women lifestyle are more similar to those
in Italy.
Finally, a lesson to be learned from the decrease in PTB rate seen in
many countries during the pandemic is the possible importance of
lifestyle and environmental aspects related to the occurrence of
pregnancies ending preterm. The pandemic period and its restriction
measures could therefore represent a large “natural experiment” to
explore the prevention of preterm birth, one of the most important goals
encouraged by WHO.26