From 2019 to 2020, there was a decrease in the number of births in the United States for each month, with declines seen for nearly all race and Hispanic-origin groups, according to a June Vital Statistics Rapid Release report, a publication from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Brady E. Hamilton, Ph.D., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues used data from all birth certificates registered to U.S. residents in the 50 states and Washington, D.C., and presented provisional 2020 and final 2019 and 2018 data on changes in the number of U.S. births.

The researchers found that the number of births in the United States declined for each month from 2019 to 2020, with the largest decreases in December, August, and October and November (8, 7, and 6 percent, respectively). Compared with the first half of 2020, larger declines were seen in the second half of 2020 (down 6 versus 2 percent). Compared with 2019, the number of births decreased in both the first and second six months of 2020 for nearly all race and Hispanic-origin groups; larger declines were seen in the second half compared with the first half of 2020.

"Evaluation of trends in births by month will continue to determine whether these declines continued into 2021 or were unique to 2020 during the time of the initial COVID-19 pandemic," the authors write.