In-Utero Exposure to Local COVID-19 Incidence and Infant Birthweight in Brazil

In this paper, we investigate whether in-utero exposure to municipal-level COVID-19 incidence rates in Brazil was associated with lower infant birth weight. To lower endogeneity related to conception during COVID-19, we include infants who were conceived before and born after, the first official case of COVID-19 in Brazil, February 26, 2020. Using the administrative natality data of infants, in-utero exposure to local COVID-19 incidence rate did not affect infant birth-weight, and the estimates are robust to heterogeneities by mother’s demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Findings have implications for the effect of in-utero exposure to local COVID-19 incidence rates and birth weight.