• Posted April 21, 2026

Black Women Hit Hardest By Pandemic-Related Rise In Pregnancy-Related Deaths

Pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. increased sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among Black women, a new study reports.

Deaths remain significantly higher today for Black mothers, even though they’ve returned to pre-pandemic levels for most other groups, researchers reported in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

“We saw a dramatic increase in pregnancy-related deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the recovery has not been equal across all groups,” said senior researcher Dr. Lindsay Admon, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Michigan Medical School.

“We need to better understand what’s driving these differences so we can develop solutions that reduce maternal deaths and improve outcomes for everyone,” she said in a news release.

The U.S. continues to have the highest maternal death rates among developed nations, and the pandemic made the crisis worse, researchers found.

For the new study, researchers tracked pregnancy-related deaths for the two years prior to the pandemic (2018-2019), during the pandemic (2020-2022), and in the years immediately after (2023-2024).

There were 8,298 pregnancy-related deaths between 2018 and 2024, or about 32 deaths per 100,000 live births, researchers said.

Results showed that maternal deaths during or just after pregnancy rose more than 60% during the pandemic, from about 20 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2019 to 33 per 100,000 in 2021.

Most of the pandemic increase was linked to COVID-associated deaths, researchers found. Early pregnancy death rates rose by 7.5 per 100,000 live births, and later pregnancy deaths by 3.7 per 100,000.

By 2023 and 2024, early pregnancy deaths had returned to pre-pandemic levels, but those late in pregnancy and after pregnancy remained elevated.

All death rates remained notably higher for Black mothers, researchers found.

“Our findings show that COVID-19–related deaths drove much of the increase during the pandemic,” Admon said. “They also highlight persistent racial disparities in maternal deaths. While progress has been made, more work is needed, especially to reduce later postpartum deaths and improve outcomes for Black mothers.”

These results indicate the need for a review of policies related to pregnancy care, including those active before and during the pandemic, researchers said.

“There is an urgent need to understand how both pandemic and post-pandemic policies have affected maternal health,” Admon said. “This work can help guide public health and policy efforts to reduce pregnancy-related deaths and improve health equity for mothers, children and families.”

More information

The World Health Organization has more on maternal deaths.

SOURCE: University of Michigan, news release, April 14, 2026