About that baby boom: Hold off on trying to get pregnant during pandemic, experts suggest

You’ve likely heard the joke that once the coronavirus pandemic blows over and we emerge from self-quarantine, we’ll see a baby boom.

But for those considering trying to conceive during the pandemic, experts say you might want to hold off.

Here’s why.

It could be tough to get pregnant right now

Research has shown that crises in which many people die actually result in fewer births nine months later.

“The relationship between high-mortality events and future fertility patterns is well-established in the academic literature,” Lyman Stone wrote in a paper published by the Institute for Family Studies.

“Previous academic literature has shown that high-mortality events as diverse as famines, earthquakes, heatwaves and disease all have very predictable effects on reducing births nine months later.”

Experts say stress over the pandemic could make it especially difficult to conceive, CNN reported.

“(The) libido is down and menstrual cycles may be off,” Dr. Renee Wellenstein, an OB/GYN in New York, told the outlet. “It may not be possible to conceive due to this.”

Little known about how COVID-19 affects pregnant women

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it still doesn’t know if the coronavirus affects pregnant women more severely than others.

“We do not currently know if pregnant women have a greater chance of getting sick from COVID-19 than the general public nor whether they are more likely to have serious illness as a result,” according to the CDC.

However, pregnant women have had higher risk of severe illness from viruses in the same family as COVID-19 as well as other viral respiratory infections, such as influenza, the CDC said.

The agency also added that when women become pregnant, they experience changes to their bodies that can increase their risk of some infections.

It’s not known how coronavirus affects a pregnancy

Similarly, the CDC says it’s unknown if the virus can cause problems during pregnancy or affect the health of the baby once it is born.

One study out of China looked at nine pregnant women with COVID-19 who’d been admitted to a hospital in Wuhan. Researchers tested amniotic fluid, cord blood, neonatal throat swabs and breast milk samples from six women for the virus and all came back negative.

Researchers believe their findings suggest that pregnant women with coronavirus cannot transmit it to their baby in late stages of pregnancy, according to the study, though they acknowledge the study’s small sample size.

Potentially less access to health care resources

Last week, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine released a statement urging fertility clinics to postpone new treatment cycles and cancel embryo transfers among other procedures in an effort to preserve health care resources such as personal protective equipment for those working on the coronavirus frontline.

Ash Mogg, 36, was about to start her first round of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Canada when her treatment was canceled last month due to concerns over coronavirus, according to the Globe and Mail.

“I cried for five hours,” Mogg said, according to the outlet. “This whole situation, with COVID, in some ways it has the same feeling as infertility. Everything is so uncertain … there’s nothing to hold onto.”

To help ensure there are enough beds and equipment to treat those with coronavirus, some women are changing their birthing plans and turning to home births, USA Today reported.

“It’s really blowing up,” Kathy Peacock, a certified nurse-midwife in Maryland, told the outlet. “Nobody wants to go the hospital. And I kind of think they shouldn’t if they have a low-risk pregnancy.”

Layla Swisher, a midwife in Florida, said she’s seen an uptick in women changing to midwifery late in their pregnancies, according to USA Today. One week, she was contacted by five mothers-to-be — more than normal, she said.

“It’s the ‘I’m getting ready to deliver’ crew who are calling us,” Swisher told the outlet.

Higher risk of exposure

Every trip a pregnant woman takes to the hospital poses a potential risk of exposure to coronavirus, Wellenstein told CNN.

“It’s never ideal to have any infectious disease during the pregnancy due to the unknown impact on the child,” she told the outlet. “To enter a hospital puts her at risk.”

Wellenstein also points out that once a baby is born, it is also at risk for contracting the virus, CNN reported.

Pregnant women could be going it alone

Many hospitals have limited how many people can be in a delivery room with a woman giving birth and some have banned them altogether.

One woman in New Jersey said she wasn’t informed until she arrived to give birth that her husband wouldn’t be allowed in the room during labor and delivery, WPVI reported.

“They were like, ‘OK your husband has to wait in the car ... he can’t come back with you because of everything that’s going on,’ ” Erin Persia told the outlet.

Persia ultimately left the hospital and gave birth at home, WPVI reported.

Others says social distancing could make the time during and after pregnancy difficult due to isolation.

“COVID-19 is causing significant stress and anxiety in some, and social distancing can be difficult to cope with over a long period of time,” therapist Haley Neidich told Business Insider.

Neidich decided to postpone her attempts at conceiving citing concerns over not being able to have her support system close.

“Pregnancy is hard, especially the first trimester, and I need my support system here with my physically in order to get through it and still be a good mom to my daughter,” she said, according to Business Insider.

In the end, it’s up to you

When it comes down to it, many experts agree that whether to try toconceive during the pandemic is a personal decision not to be taken lightly.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released a statement on March 30 stating that hospitals and birthing centers are still safe places to give birth during the coronavirus pandemic.

But for some, choosing whether to try to conceive can feel like a now-or-never ultimatum.

For those concerned their ability to conceive might be running out, Dr. Bat-Sheva Maslow had this to say, according to Extend Fertility: “... when we’re talking about the decline of fertility with age, we’re talking in terms of years, not months.”

This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 11:05 AM with the headline "About that baby boom: Hold off on trying to get pregnant during pandemic, experts suggest."