Above all, the pandemic has hit African-American and Hispanic pregnant women, says one new report fixed. Overall, pregnancy-related deaths have increased by almost 80 percent since 2018. In 2021, covid-19 was linked to a quarter of reported deaths. The proportion of children born prematurely and the proportion with low birth weight also increased in 2021.
Analyzed numbers
It is the non-partisan US Accountability Office (GAO) that analyzed figures from, among others, the US infectious disease control agency.
Among women originating in Latin American countries, the rate of pregnancy-related deaths more than doubled from 12.6 deaths per 100,000 births in 2019 to 27.5 last year.
In the black population, they increased from 44 per 100,000 births to 69 in 2021. Among white women, the number rose from 18 to 26 during the same time period.
It has long been known that pregnancy poses an increased risk of contracting severe covid disease. The researchers behind the report write that the pandemic has reinforced the differences between different groups in the US when it comes to healthcare, not least maternal healthcare.
Location in Sweden
Lisa Parén is a senior physician in the Women’s Health department at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg. In her role as chairman of the Swedish working and reference group for maternal mortality, she has looked at the figures for Sweden.
Here, three women have died of covid-19 during their pregnancy between 2020 and 2021. The total maternal mortality during the time period was 15.
— All three who died of covid did so before vaccination became available in Sweden. Everyone also had other risk factors for becoming seriously ill from covid, she says.
Because the numbers are so small, it is not possible to draw any big conclusions, but Lisa Parén says that the vaccination and good access to care in Sweden are probably behind the low numbers. Of those who gave birth in recent months in Sweden, 80 percent had received one dose of the covid vaccine and 77 percent two doses, says Lisa Parén.
— It is tragic but not unexpected that there are such large differences between different ethnic groups in the United States. I can imagine that it is significantly more difficult to get access to maternity care for those who are socioeconomically weak and for those who become seriously ill in covid, to get access to advanced care, she says.
It is unclear whether they have been vaccinated
The report does not show what proportion of those who suffered complications or deaths were vaccinated against covid-19.
The authors of the US report address factors that may be behind the increase in maternal mortality among African-American and Hispanic women. They mention, among other things, poorer opportunities to stay home from work, dependence on public transport and overcrowding.
Olof Stephansson, senior physician at Karolinska Hospital and professor in obstetrics and gynecology, points out that there are now few pregnant women who need intensive care in Sweden.
— Of those who have given birth in recent months, no one has had to be cared for in intensive care during their pregnancy. The fact that we have such good vaccination coverage is the likely explanation in combination with the fact that we know more about how covid is best treated, he says.