Pregnancy-related deaths in US surged during pandemic - CDC
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[March 17, 2023]
By Mariam Sunny
(Reuters) - Maternal mortality rates rose 40% in 2021 in the United
States as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened a health crisis among pregnant
women in the country, data from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) showed on Thursday.
The United States has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related
deaths among developed countries. It recorded more than 1,200 deaths in
pregnant women in 2021, compared with 861 in 2020 and 754 in 2019,
according to CDC data.
"The number and percentage of maternal death records mentioning COVID-19
were greater in 2021 than in 2020, which (suggests) that COVID-19 has
likely contributed to the increase in maternal deaths," said Donna
Hoyert, author of the study at CDC's National Center for Health
Statistics.
About 32.9 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births were reported in
2021, compared with 23.8 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020 and 20.1
in 2019.
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A general view of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta,
Georgia September 30, 2014. REUTERS/Tami Chappell/
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The mortality rate for Black women
in the United States was at 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births in
2021, about 3 times higher than white and Hispanic women.
UN agencies reported last month that nearly all parts of the world
saw a spike in maternal mortality rates in 2020.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; editing by Nancy Lapid and
Shweta Agarwal)
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