Government messages to stay home, lockdowns, fear, and disruption of services at hospitals in response to COVID-19 have led to increased “avoidable deaths of both mothers and babies” during the pandemic, a study published this week in The Lancet Global Health found.
“Global maternal and fetal outcomes have worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, with an increase in maternal deaths, stillbirth, ruptured ectopic pregnancies, and maternal depression,” according to research from several institutions, including the Fetal Medicine Unit at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and King’s College London.
The study, which combined data from 40 studies worldwide and measured maternal and neonatal health indicators before and during pandemic government restrictions, found considerable disparity between high-income Western countries and poorer developing countries. Read more…
