June 2020

IZA Policy Paper No. 161: Pregnancy during the Pandemic

Worries about the impact of COVID-19 on pregnant mothers and their offspring are wide-spread. As a comparison, the Spanish Flu pandemic had devastating health impacts on pregnant mothers and in-utero exposure to influenza is known to have negative short- and long-term consequences for children. The existing evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic, however, allows for cautious optimism about the impacts of COVID-19 on pregnant women and their children.