COLUMBUS, Ohio — For the first time in history, Ohio recorded more deaths than births in 2020, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
What You Need To Know
- The number of deaths in Ohio surpassed the number of births in 2020
- The Ohio Department of Health says gap between deaths and births has been closing in last few years
- Pandemic also caused some couples to delay having children
Dr. Michael Cackovic, a maternal fetal medicine physician at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, says the trend can be connected to the coronavirus pandemic.
“There’s been a lot of uncertainty in the last two years,” said Cackovic. “Some of that comes from the pandemic, some of it comes in the political situation, some in the economic situation, all of those things can work in different ways to change the birth rate.”
In 2020, the number of deaths in Ohio was around 143,661. It outpaced the number of births, which was 129,313, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
The Ohio Department of Health declined an interview with Spectrum News 1, but shared data in a statement:
“The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly taken a toll on Ohioans, with more than 24,000 Ohioans with COVID-19 losing their lives over the course of the pandemic, including more than 13,000 who died during the 2020 calendar year. The gap between deaths and births has been closing steadily over the last several years, with deaths taking a significant jump in 2020 to the point deaths exceed births.”
Cackovic said his patients did cite the pandemic as a reason to hold off on having more children.
About 40 percent said the uncertainty of the situation would preclude them from getting pregnant.
Alternative forms of conception, or treatments to increase chances of pregnancy, considered “elective surgeries,” were canceled in 2020, contributing to the data.
“Reproductive endocrinologists weren’t doing IVF transfers and things like that to help people get pregnant,” said Cackovic.
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center sees around 5,000 births a year or 100 a week. From July 2020 to June 2021, the health system had 5,293 births.