Maternal mortality rates increased during 1st year of COVID pandemic: CDC

Maternal mortality rates in the U.S. rose in 2020, according to a new report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wednesday.

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.

In 2020, 861 women in the U.S. died of maternal causes -- a rate of 23.8 per 100,000 live births, the report found.