As COVID stress eases, some Conn. doctors see baby boom
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year, having another baby was not at the forefront of Julianna Diaz’s mind.
Diaz, 35, is a nurse and was concerned about this new illness that was ripping through the community and taking so many lives. Her anxiety peaked on March 28, 2020 when she was diagnosed with COVID.
“That was at the beginning stages of the virus,” Diaz said. “We were having patients coming in sick and just didn’t know what to do” to stay safe.
Soon after she was diagnosed, her husband also contracted the virus. Her 5-year-old son was sent to live with relatives while she and her husband quarantined and recovered. She said it was an anxious and terrifying time.
But then, things changed. Diaz and her husband recovered and some of their anxiety abated. They were happy to be healthy and alive.
In August, the couple conceived a child, and a daughter named Olivia Rose who was born April 26 at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport.
Olivia Rose is part of what Dr. Ronika Choudhary, an obstetrician gynecologist, sees as a delayed baby boom in Connecticut. Choudhary, who has offices in Trumbull and Fairfield, said there had been a prolonged dip before about a 10 percent rise in births among her patients in the past two months.
“Our delivery rooms and nurseries are so full right now,” said Choudhary, who is Diaz’s doctor.
According to the state Department of Public Health, there were 2,963 births in March — the most for that month since 2016. The number of monthly Connecticut births had been below average in late 2020 and January this year before picking up in February and March, the data shows.
In the early days of the pandemic when much of Connecticut was locked down, some experts predicted there would be a baby boom in nine months, because so many couples were stuck at home together. But experts quickly realized the sudden prolonged closeness wasn’t leading to a spike in pregnancies.
The Brookings Institute published a report in June 2020, predicting there would be 300,000 to 500,000 fewer births in 2021, due to factors such as the pandemic’s effect on the economy. Choudhary said the expectation of a baby bust didn’t surprise her.
First, she said, despite popular belief, situations that require people to be
locked in together — such as quarantine or even a snowstorm — don’t typically lead to a jump in babies. Second, job losses and business closures during the pandemic likely meant a lot of people weren’t in a good financial position to have a baby, Choudhary said.
Many doctors’ offices closed to routine visits in
the early days of the pandemic as well, she said, meaning couples who might have been considering a pregnancy likely weren’t doing the typical preconception visits to discuss their options.
“The psychological shock of pandemic doesn’t really make people want to have sex,” Choudhary said. “People are stressed. Also, there are kids at home. You’re homeschooling your kids, and that doesn’t leave time for a sex life.”
But, she said, as the pandemic became part of everyone’s life, the mood started to change last summer. Connecticut’s COVID cases started to decline. Some people began receiving financial support from the government. Day care centers began to open, as did some schools.
“People started easing back into a routine and started having sex again,” Choudhary said.
At Stamford Health, there has been about a 25 percent increase in births during the past two months, according to Dr. Scott Chudnoff, chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology.
Diaz said she and her husband weren’t trying to have a baby when their daughter was conceived, but “we weren’t not trying to have a baby, either.”