# NICU stays are down (unexpected benefit!)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicu-stays-are-down-unexpected-benefit/915973>\
**Category:** The Quarantine Zone\
**Tags:** covid-quarantine\
**Created:** [July 22, 2020, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicu-stays-are-down-unexpected-benefit/915973 "2020-07-22T03:29:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2020, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicu-stays-are-down-unexpected-benefit/915973/1 "2020-07-22T03:29:51Z")

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From the NY Times:

> **[During Coronavirus Lockdowns, Some Doctors Wondered: Where Are the Preemies?...](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/19/health/coronavirus-premature-birth.html)**
>
> Hospitals in several countries saw dips in premature births, which could be a starting point for future research.

Evidently, there are a lot fewer preemies being born nowadays. They don’t know why. My theory is that with people being at home more, they are going through less physical stress; I told my husband “Well, I’m basically on bed rest right now!” (I’m not - and I sure as hell am not pregnant… but that’s about the level of activity).

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**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2020, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicu-stays-are-down-unexpected-benefit/915973/2 "2020-07-22T22:17:05Z")

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I’ll believe it to be a benefit if we don’t have an increase in miscarriages

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**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2020, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicu-stays-are-down-unexpected-benefit/915973/3 "2020-07-23T00:17:29Z")

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Or is it a increase in stress?

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**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2020, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicu-stays-are-down-unexpected-benefit/915973/4 "2020-07-23T08:19:29Z")

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Physical exercise (which if not done to extremes, is not a form of stress) before and during pregnancy actually results in better natal outcomes. It’s more likely the decrease in preemies is caused by a combination of more exercise (walking the dog more or whatever) and less time being chairbound at a desk at work.

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**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2020, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicu-stays-are-down-unexpected-benefit/915973/5 "2020-07-23T10:27:20Z")

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Perhaps a certain number of premature births have been induced unnecessarily over the years.