Maternal deaths increased during pandemic

[KSTP-TV News, October 27, 2022] A grim report using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows there was an increase in maternal deaths during the pandemic.

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, about a fourth of all maternal deaths in 2020 and 2021 were directly related to COVID-19. The report also shows the maternal death rate was disproportionately higher for Black or African-American and Hispanic Women.

Existing barriers to accessing care and reduced access to public transportation and child care also worsened for women of color during the pandemic, according to the report.

“We had a lot of very sick moms with COVID,” Dr. Katherine Bigelow, maternal fetal medicine physician with Allina Health’s Mother Baby Center, said about the heart of the pandemic – specifically when the Delta variant was spreading.