Covid vaccine not linked to decrease in childbirth, study finds

The Covid vaccine is not behind a fall in childbirth, a Swedish study has shown.

Rumours on social media have alleged that the jab impairs chances of becoming pregnant.

In the later stages of the pandemic, some countries, including Sweden, saw fewer births, raising the question of whether vaccines were responsible.

The study analysed all women aged 18 to 45 years in Region Jönköping County, Sweden, a total of almost 60,000 women. Of these, 75 per cent were vaccinated once or more against Covid-19 from 2021 to 2024.

Researchers at Linköping University used healthcare records on childbirths, miscarriages and deaths.

Comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated groups, the researchers found no statistically significant differences in childbirths or miscarriages.

This aligns with previous studies finding no link between the Covid vaccine and fertility.

 Toomas Timpka is professor of social medicine at Linköping University.

Timpka said: “We see no difference in childbirth rates between those who have taken the vaccine and those who haven’t.

“We’ve also looked at all registered miscarriages among those who became pregnant, and we see no difference between the groups there either.

“Our conclusion is that it’s highly unlikely that the mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 was behind the decrease in childbirth during the pandemic.”

The researchers suggest other explanations for the dip in births.

People now in their 30s were born in the late 1990s, a period of economic strain and lower birth rates in Sweden, shrinking today’s cohort of potential parents.

Additional pandemic-related factors, such as health and economic concerns and changed behaviour during lockdown, may also have reduced childbirth.

A strength of the study is its large, nationally representative cohort.

The analysis adjusted for age to avoid masking any potential vaccine effect on childbirth.