COVID-19 Caused The Most Deaths Among New Mothers In Mumbai: Report

Postpartum deaths due to COVID-19: Among all the causes for deaths after childbirth in women, complications caused by COVID-19 causes the most deaths in Mumbai, data released by BMC.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recently came out with a report which stated that more and more pregnant women tested positive for COVID-19 during the second wave.

To be exact, the data given out by ICMR showed a massive jump from 14.2% of pregnant and postpartum women showing symptoms of COVID-19 in the first wave to 28.7% of such cases during the second wave.

Postpartum Deaths Due To COVID-19:

The recent data released by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) showed that coronavirus became the leading cause of death among postpartum women. According to a report by the Times of India, over 16.5 % of 193 maternal deaths in Mumbai from April 2020 to March 2021 were caused by COVID-19. The other reasons for deaths among new mothers were Sepsis (12%), TB and haemorrhage( 8.8%) and 4% of new mothers died due to heart diseases. This data was collected by RTI activist Chetan Kothari.

The maternal mortality numbers were also decreased during the pandemic. The TOI report stated that it was at 193 during 2020-21 which was 20% less than 241 in 2019-20. This can be because of fewer deliveries during the pandemic. The average of childbirth dropped from 1.50 lakh in 2019 to 1.20 lakh in 2020.

The report also stated that other causes of maternal deaths were also aggravated because of COVID-19. For example, the death of new mothers due to tuberculosis increased from 5% before the pandemic to 8.8% during the pandemic.

This data can cause concern as the safety of pregnant and postpartum women is not yet fully ensured during COVID-19. As India has now started to vaccinate all adults above the age group of 18, the status of vaccination for pregnant women is still not "permitted". The Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare has "recommended" lactating women and pregnant women to get the COVID-19 vaccine.