What’s behind a drop in premature births during lockdown?

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Professor Roy Philip, a consultant neonatologist at University Maternity Hospital, Limerick in Ireland, noticed that the number of babies being born very early dropped dramatically during lockdown. A similar pattern was noticed in the Danish city of Copenhagen – where the number of babies born before 28 weeks fell by 90%. Now experts across the world want to see whether less stress, lower pollution or less exposure to infectious diseases could play a role. (Image: Premature baby at hospital, Credit: Getty Images.)