Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40883372›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

Maternal mortality in Egypt during the COVID-19 pandemic using record-based data from January 2020 to December 2021.

Shaimaa Abdallah Gebili, Norhan Hassan Hekal, Neamat Hamdy Elsawy, Esraa Morshedy Beltagy, Walaa Mohamed Kandil, Ebtisam Hassanin, Hatem Gamaleldin, Mahmoud M Tolbah, Ahmed Mohamed Abady, Ramy Mohamed Ghazy

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Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Shaimaa Abdallah GebiliHead of Clinical Research Department of Fayoum Government, Ministry of Health and Population, Cairo, Egypt.
Norhan Hassan HekalBiomedical Informatics and Medical Statistics, Medical Research Institute, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt. norhan.hekal@alexu.edu.eg.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3585-8827
Neamat Hamdy ElsawyClinical pharmacy inspection, Fowa Health administration, Ministry of Health and Population, Kafr Elsheikh, Egypt.
Esraa Morshedy BeltagyClinical Research Department, Kafer Elsheikh Health Affairs, Ministry of Health and Population, Kafr Elsheikh, Egypt.
Walaa Mohamed KandilClinical Research Coordinator at Beheira Health Affairs, Ministry of Health and Population, Damanhour, Egypt.
Ebtisam HassaninClinical Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, New Valley University, Kharga, Egypt.
Hatem GamaleldinMinistry of health and Population, Cairo, Egypt.
Mahmoud M TolbahMinistry of health and Population, Cairo, Egypt.
Ahmed Mohamed AbadyMinistry of health and Population, Cairo, Egypt.
Ramy Mohamed GhazyTropical Health Department, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7611-706X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the characteristics and predictors of coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-related maternal deaths in 2020 and 2021, and to assess maternal mortality ratio (MMR) from 2018 to 2021 in Egypt. A record-based cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in four randomly selected governorates: Kafr El-Sheikh, El-Behira, (Lower Egypt) and Assiut, and Fayoum (Upper Egypt). Data from 541 maternal deaths were analyzed, revealing that 37.7% occurred in Assuit, 28.5% in El-Behira, 22.7% in Fayoum, and 11.1% in Kafr El-Sheik. The mean age of the studied population was 28.9 ± 6.4 years, with 39.0% having 1-2 children and 26.8% being nulliparous. Direct causes, including postpartum haemorrhage, preeclampsia, and embolism, accounted for 47.5% of deaths. As one of indirect causes of deaths, COVID-19 was diagnosed in 25.3%, it was the sole cause in 75.0% of them. Multivariable analysis identified the year 2021 (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 3.32; 95% CI, 1.9-5.81), residence in Lower Egypt (aOR = 5.15; 95% CI, 2.61-10.18), and hospital referral refusals (aOR = 8.72; 95% CI, 1.73-44.0) as key predictors of COVID-19-associated MM. The overall MMR increased between 2018 and 2021 with significant increases observed in Fayoum (from 39.25 to 71.65; p < 0.001) and Kafr El-Sheikh (from 36.44 to 56.6; p = 0.032). Yearly comparisons revealed significant inter-governorate differences in all years except 2021 (p = 0.15), with Assuit maintaining the highest MMR. Although the national MMR increased from 44.1 (pre-COVID-19) to 55.9 (post-COVID-19), this change was not statistically significant (p = 0.236). The findings highlight an alarming rise in maternal deaths and underscore the need for targeted interventions to address the direct causes of MM and improve healthcare access during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Indexed as

COVID-19Maternal MortalityAdultCross-Sectional StudiesEgyptFemaleHumansPandemicsPregnancySARS-CoV-2Young AdultAntenatal careCOVID-19EgyptMaternal healthMaternal mortality

Identifiers

PMID40883372
PMCPMC12397301

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.