A new study shows that maternal mortality in the U.S. increased faster in 2021 than in 2020 and nearly doubled from pre-pandemic rates in 2019. American Indians/Alaska Natives endured the largest increase in pregnancy-related deaths.
Boston University School of Public Health
Following the emergence of the highly contagious Delta and Omicron COVID-19 variants, pregnancy-related death rates increased faster in the United States in 2021, compared to the previous year, according to a new study from the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH).and the University of Maryland School of Public Health (UMD).
The staggering data captures the worsening burden of pregnancy-related mortality, including deaths during pregnancy up to 1 year after delivery, in the U.S. during the pandemic. Death rates increased particularly among racial and ethnic minorities, and the study provides COVID-related context to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics indicating that U.S. maternal mortality rates increased 38 percent in 2021, compared to 2020 rates.
Published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, the findings on pregnancy-related mortality are consistent with rising COVID-19-related death rates among women of reproductive age, and the results follow previously published research by the team that also revealed alarming increases in maternal mortality rates during the first year of the pandemic in 2020.
The new study found that pregnancy-related death rates rose to 45.5 deaths per 100,000 live births overall in 2021, and to 56.9 deaths per 100,000 live births during the third trimester of 2021, compared to 36.7 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020. and 30.3 deaths per 100,000 pre-COVID live births.The Delta variant began sweeping the country in June 2021, before the even more contagious Omicron variant established itself in late fall.
Quarterly pregnancy-related mortality rates by contributing cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-, United States. Q, fourth.
Notably, the study found that the largest relative increases in pregnancy-related deaths among Hispanic people (by 34 percent) and especially in American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) people (by 104 percent). Pregnancy-related death rates in 2021 were highest for AIAN (161 deaths per 100,000 live births) and black (98 deaths per 100,000 live births) pregnant people. The proportion of pregnancy-related deaths with a COVID diagnosis was highest among Hispanics (43 percent) and AIAN (36 percent).
Source — https://www.intramed.net/103881