PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — In recent years, the birth rate in the U.S. has been declining by about 2% a year. That trend continued into the early part of 2020, but as the pandemic spread, the rate declined even more.
In fact, the overall decline for 2020 was 4% — the greatest decline of the U.S. birth rate since 1973.
However, this was expected. Hospitals throughout the country have had decreasing numbers of deliveries for the past six months.
There was an initial theory that there would be a spike in pregnancies due to people spending more time at home, but overriding concerns about health and safety appear to have had a greater influence.
Numbers for 2021 have not been released, but there is an expectation that deliveries continue the downward trend for the first half of the year.
KYW Newsradio's Medical Reports are sponsored by Independence Blue Cross.
