Generation COVID Pt.1: Pregnancy, Fertility Treatments, and Infant Development
with Dr. Ezra Aydin
For those who were pregnant or trying to conceive during the pandemic, all expectations of what their life as new parents would look like shifted. Fertility treatments were paused, doctors appointments were rescheduled, and hospitals were changing protocols on who could and couldn’t be in the maternity ward during labor and delivery. So much was unknown.
This is the first part of a two-part series about pregnant and postpartum parents. Dr. Amanda Zelechoski talks with Dr. Ezra Aydin about the impact of the pandemic on parents, pregnancies, and infant development. We’ll also hear from four parents about their journeys through fertility treatments, pregnancies, and caring for a Generation COVID newborn.
Included in this episode about pandemic pregnancies:
How did the pandemic impact pregnancy experiences?
What delays and restrictions did parents seeking fertility treatments encounter during the first year of the pandemic?
How has the pandemic impacted infant development?
Additional Resources on Pandemic Fertility Treatments and Pregnancies
Generation COVID (Pipkin Lab | University of Cambridge)
Generation COVID: pregnancy, birth and postnatal life in the pandemic by Sarah Lloyd-Fox and James Clifford Kent (The Conversation)
Covid and Patient Experience (RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association)
The pandemic disrupted tens of thousands of IVF cycles by Alissa Greenberg (NOVA | PBS)
Bite-Sized Excerpt from This Episode
Meet Our Guests
Ezra Aydin, Ph.D.
Dr. Ezra Aydin is a PostDoctoral Research Fellow at Columbia University in the early neuroimaging, neuroimmune and neuropsychology lab (Early N3 Lab), and holds a Ph.D. in Psychiatry from the University of Cambridge.
She is also a visiting researcher at the University of Cambridge and helped develop and run the CoCoPIP (Covid in the Context of Pregnancy, Infancy and Parenting) study, where they’ve been following expectant parents from pregnancy until their infant is of 18 months of age, observing the influence of COVID on their pregnancy, healthcare and antenatal support, birth experiences, as well as parental support, infant development, and the impact this has had on the parents themselves (financially and mentally). The CoCoPIP team is hoping this study will shed light on the longitudinal impact of COVID guidance and restrictions on the long-term development of the child in the UK, whilst also giving families a voice.
Overall Dr Aydin’s work focuses on prenatal development, maternal influences during pregnancy and how these are related to long-term development in the infant.