The pandemic caused a 40% increase in pregnant women’s deaths as COVID aggravated underlying conditions

Pregnant women’s deaths rose 40 percent during the pandemic as exposure to the virus worsened underlying conditions in expectant mothers.

According to the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention, around 1,205 pregnant women died in 2021, up from 861 in 2020 and 754 in 2019.

It marked a six-decade high in maternal mortality in the United States, with black women dying nearly three times more than their white counterparts.

A previous Government Accountability Office report said at least 400 maternal deaths in 2021 listed Covid-19 infection as a contributing factor – accounting for most of the increase from previous years.

But experts add that burnt-out hospital staff and high levels of vaccine reluctance among pregnant women exacerbated the crisis.

Preliminary figures show that maternal deaths in 2022 have returned to normal levels at around 733.

Experts say reluctance to vaccinate pregnant women – as a result of conflicting medical guidelines – has contributed to the rise in maternal deaths. The picture shows a pregnant woman receiving her vaccine

The data includes deaths of women who were either pregnant or were pregnant within the 42 days prior to their death.

Doctors say that pregnancy makes women more vulnerable to infectious diseases because their heart, lungs and kidneys have to work harder even during pregnancy.

The infection can also damage the placenta, causing blood clots more easily and increasing the risk of preeclampsia — a complication marked by high blood pressure.

But the problem was compounded by the fact that many doctors and nurses were feeling stressed after being inundated with Covid patients during the pandemic, meaning they were spending less face-to-face time with their patients.

‘[Doctors] had to make quick decisions and maybe didn’t listen to their patients as much,” Samantha Griffin, who owns a doula service in Washington, DC, told the Associated Press.

“Women said they thought something was wrong and they weren’t heard.”

Stories of expectant mothers dying in childbirth circulated during lockdown.

And conflicting medical evidence left many too scared to get vaccinated for fear of complications.

Vaccinations for pregnant women were not recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) until August 2021.

Reluctance to vaccinate has been particularly strong among the black community, which experts say helps explain in part why mortality rates among black women have risen so sharply.

Amanda Perry died in August 2021 after contracting Covid-19 while pregnant. She planned to get vaccinated after the birth

Her husband Billy said at the time, “I wish we had talked more about getting the vaccine,” adding, “We weren’t anti-vaccination.”

Their son Nolan was born via emergency c-section and survived

In 2021, black women had 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births — 2.6 times more than white women.

“Initially, there was a lot of mistrust of the vaccine in the black communities,” Griffin said.

Today, the CDC says more than 70 percent of vaccinated women have received a Covid vaccine — but only about 20 percent have received the booster shots they need.

“We definitely know that vaccination prevents serious illness and hospitalization and prevents poor maternal and infant outcomes,” said Dr. Dana Meaney-Delman, who works for the CDC, told the New York Times.

“We have to keep emphasizing that point.”

In August 2021, the widow of an unvaccinated pregnant Tennessee woman who died from the virus revealed that he “wished” he had spoken to his wife about the vaccination.

Amanda Perry, 36, of Dickson County, Tennessee, had suffered multiple miscarriages in the past and feared the vaccine would trigger another.

In the 32nd week of pregnancy she had to undergo an emergency caesarean section. Her son Nolan survived.

At the time, her husband Billy told Newsweek: “I wish we had talked more about getting the vaccine.

“We weren’t against it.

“We were not anti-vaccination. When you are pregnant what do you do? There isn’t much research out there. She was bloody scared.’

In June of the same year, 43-year-old Shanetta Wilson died after contracting the virus days after her baby shower.

She was admitted to George Washington University Hospital where she fell into a coma.

Shanetta Wilson died in June 2021 after contracting the virus in the days following her baby shower

Wilson was six months pregnant with her son at the time. Her niece said the virus “attacked” her lungs and crippled her body

She was six months pregnant with her son Charles, who was born five days before her death.

Her niece Gwendolyn Wilson told WUSA9: “It was devastating to hear how quickly the virus had attacked her lungs and everything shut down very quickly and how she went into a coma.”