Report: Virginia’s maternal mortality rate rose dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - According to a maternal health annual report, Virginia’s maternal mortality rate was 15.6 per 100,000 women in 2021.

While Virginia’s maternal mortality rate was rising before the COVID-19 pandemic, data shows that during the pandemic it skyrocketed.

“Over the last 10 years, every year the maternal mortality rate in the United States is rising. For us, Virginia is no exception to that,” said Doctor Bill Petri with UVA Health. “A woman who is 40 is about five times more likely to die from pregnancy related complications.”

He says racial disparities have also been a factor, as statistics show Black and Native American women are seven times more likely to die from from pregnancy related complications.

Dr. Petri says that Virginia is mirroring the rest of the country in these trends.

“It is linked to like health insurance, and so people that have private health insurance are more protected from maternal mortality, which indicates to me that this is partly a problem in access to health,” Dr. Petri said.

In a recent study, the National Center for Health Statistics says COVID-19 most likely contributed to these deaths across the United States.

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