Babies Born During the Pandemic Has Slight Development Lag, Study Says

A study revealed that the developmental skills of babies born during the pandemic scored slightly lower on a screening compared to babies born before the pandemic started, a study in JAMA Pediatrics revealed. Researchers noted development lag on babies regardless of whether the mother had COVID-19 during pregnancy or not.

The study focused on 255 babies born from March to December 2020 in New York City, the epicenter of the pandemic in the country in its early days.

Lower social and motor skills but higher communication skills

The infants were screened for social, communication, and motor skills at six months. The study used a standard questionnaire, testing the babies' abilities like how often they babble, their ability to roll from their back to stomach, and other milestones.

Researchers noted that babies born during the pandemic had lower scores than babies born pre-pandemic. The study also revealed that the scores were consistent regardless of whether the mothers were inflicted with COVID-19 or not.

The study also revealed that although the pandemic-born babies scored lower in social and motor skills, they scored higher in communication skills. 

The good news is the results may not indicate a long-term lag in development as the difference of the average scores between the two sets of babies were small, and incidences of developmental delays were not high.

Lag on motor and social skills explained

Pediatrics research professor of Brown University, Sean Deani, was puzzled. "Why the heck are these kiddos scoring less well on what I would consider very foundational skills, like motor skills, particularly?" he asked. Deani expected that communication skills would be significantly affected as adults usually wear masks to hide their noses and mouths when they talk, contributing to limited social interactions with infants. Hence, he was expecting that language skills should be significantly affected.

Researchers speculated that the lag in motor and social skills might be due to the stress that pregnant women experienced due to the pandemic.

Lead study investigator Dr. Dani Dumitriu, an assistant professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at Columbia University, links the lag to several factors. She said the elements might be being born into an environment with various stressors: lockdowns, job loss, unstable housing, and other pandemic-related concerns.

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The implications of the study

According to Dumitriu, while six months is a very early developmental time point, it is not a good predictor of long-term outcomes. The data is crucial as it provides a tremendous opportunity to intervene, especially if there are long-term harmful effects on some children due to the pandemic.

Separate research in August 2021 revealed that reduced interactions due to lockdown led to lower cognitive skills in children born during the pandemic. The lead researcher, Deoni, is concerned that children entering into daycare, preschool, and schools may need more significant intervention if this continues.

However, he assured that infants' brains are resilient. He advised that parents must be involved in the day-to-day life of their kids, despite the challenges of the pandemic. He recommends constant engagement like reading every night, talking, listening, and getting on the floor to play to address developmental lags on babies due to the pandemic.

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