Maternal mortality rates in the U.S. rose during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and racial disparities that existed before the pandemic were perpetuated, according to a new report published Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The report looked at data from the CDC’s National Centers for Health Statistics and compared 2020 rates to rates in 2018 and 2019.
Maternal deaths were defined as women who died either while pregnant or within 42 days of the end of pregnancy.