According to the US News Network on July 4, new research shows that in the first year of the outbreak of COVID-19, the mortality rate of pregnant women or women who have just given birth in the United States has risen sharply.
According to the u.s.nationalcenterforhealthstatistics, in 2020, while the overall mortality rate in the United States increased by 16%, the mortality rate of pregnant women and early postpartum women was higher, reaching 18%. In addition, the growth rate of black and Latino women was higher.
By comparing the maternal mortality data in the United States from 2018 to March 2020 and from April 2020 to December 2020, the researchers found that the maternal mortality rate increased significantly, with the maternal mortality rate in the middle and third trimester rising by about 33% and 41% respectively.
"This growth is actually driven by the number of deaths after the outbreak, which is higher than the overall excess mortality we saw in 2020." Said mariethoma, co-author of the study and assistant professor of family science at the University of Maryland School of public health.
The team also found new differences. The already high mortality rate of black women increased by 40%, while the previously low rate of Latino women increased by 74%.
Eugenedeclercq, co-author of the study and professor of community health science at Boston university'sschooleofpublicalhealth, pointed out that during the epidemic, the maternal mortality rate of Latino women in the United States was higher than that of non Latino white women for the first time in more than a decade. This change may be related to COVID-19, which deserves more attention.
The study found that from April 2020 to December 2020, COVID-19 was listed as the second leading cause of maternal mortality in nearly 15% of the United States. COVID-19 is one of the influencing factors when 32% of Latino women, nearly 13% of black women and 7% of white women give birth.
It is reported that most of the increase is attributed to diseases related to covid-19, including respiratory or viral infections, or diseases worsened by viruses such as diabetes and heart disease. The authors of the study said that delayed prenatal care during the epidemic may also lead to undetected risk factors.