[The possible impact of the COVID-19 lockdown measures on the perinatal/neonatal outcome - a data analysis of the years 2019, 2020, 2021].

This study aims to contribute to investigating the potential impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and lockdown measures on perinatal care.A statistical analysis of diagnoses (ICD-10) of 21,393 newborns born between 2019 and 2021 from three Level 1 perinatal centers was conducted. During the study period, a statistical decrease in full-term births and very early preterm births (VLBW), coupled with an increase in infants born between 28 and 37.0 weeks of gestation, was observed in 2020 and 2021. Likewise, a significantly higher number of infants were born after 42.0 weeks of gestation. Neonatal morbidity, characterized by increased rates of asphyxiated newborns and umbilical artery pH values<7.1 as well as infant damage due to maternal pregnancy complications increased significantly. Furthermore, a statistically significant increase in the number of IUGR/SGA births was observed.While the reduction in the number of very premature infants observed in many places can be interpreted as a positive result of the lockdown measures, our data demonstrate an increase in pathological perinatal parameters. An increase in perinatally depressed newborns and a significantly increased postnatal morbidity of the children can possibly be indicators for an inadequate prenatal and/or intranatal care. Implications for similar, anticipated situations should be drawn.