Jan 30, 2023 - Health

Deaths jump among pregnant women

Tina Reed

An IV bag hangs as surgeons conduct an operation. — Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

The number of women who died during pregnancy or shortly after giving birth jumped in the first year of the pandemic, a study in JAMA Network Open shows.

Why it matters: While pregnancy-associated causes were still the leading cause of death, the jump in mortality between 2019 and 2020 was largely not related to the pregnancies themselves.

By the numbers: The study, led by the University of Texas at San Antonio, found mortality rates increased by 22%, from 27.5 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2019 to 33.6 deaths per 100,000 live births for pregnancy-associated causes in 2020.

They jumped 36%, from 26.4 to 36 per 100,000 live births for nonpregnancy causes over that time.
Mortality rates increased "significantly" for drug poisoning, motor vehicle collisions and homicide, but did not increase due to suicide.

What they're saying: "One of the main messages, I think, from this is really that there's a much bigger societal problem facing pregnant women and new mothers who are in that postpartum period where, you know, that's a very stressful time of life," Jeffrey Howard, an author of the study and associate professor of public health at the University of Texas at San Antonio told CNN.

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Deaths jump among pregnant women

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