USA: Maternal mortality has increased in the first year of the pandemic

IIn the first year of COVID-19, more mothers in the United States died during pregnancy, childbirth, or in the months following childbirth than in the previous year. The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) counted an average of 24 deaths for every 100,000 births in 2020. In 2019, about 20 out of every 100,000 American women had died from complications of pregnancy or childbirth.

A total of 861 maternal deaths were registered in the first Corona year. The National Center for Health Statistics, which belongs to the US Department of Health, did not name the causes of the increase when the survey was presented on Wednesday. The effects of Sars-CoV-2, which, according to initial studies, promote serious illnesses during pregnancy, on maternal mortality, have not yet been sufficiently researched. However, the authority referred to indirect consequences of the corona virus. For example, since many people are afraid of getting infected when visiting the doctor, they skip check-ups.

The number of dead mothers in the first year of Corona was particularly high among blacks. While the NCHS counted about 44 deaths per 100,000 pregnant African American women in 2019, the number rose to more than 55 deaths in 2020. Overall, maternal mortality among black American women was almost three times that of white pregnant women. Although the risk of death is steadily declining in most industrialized countries, it continues to increase in the United States. In neighboring Canada, 7.5 deaths per 100,000 births were counted in 2020, and around seven in Germany.