All-Cause Maternal Mortality in the US Before vs During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reported an 18.4% increase in US maternal mortality (ie, death during pregnancy or within 42 days of pregnancy) between 2019 and 2020. The relative increase was 44.4% among Hispanic, 25.7% among non-Hispanic Black, and 6.1% among non-Hispanic White women. Given a 16.8% increase in overall US mortality in 2020, largely attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, we examined the pandemic’s role in 2020 maternal death rates.

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Published in JAMA Network Open