Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40970029›Full record

ArticleCureus2025

Racial Disparities in Maternal Mortality Before, During, and After the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States: A Difference-in-Difference Analysis.

Kyosuke Kamijo, Misa Hayasaka, Tetsuya Kawakita

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Kyosuke KamijoObstetrics and Gynecology, Nagano Prefectural Shinshu Medical Center, Nagano, JPN.
Misa HayasakaObstetrics and Gynecology, Macon and Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, USA.
Tetsuya KawakitaObstetrics and Gynecology, Macon and Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background This study aimed to examine changes in racial disparities in pregnancy-related and maternal mortality before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Methodology This was a cross-sectional study using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (CDC WONDER) data from January 2018 to June 2024. We focused on pregnancy-related and maternal mortality among Black and White individuals to examine racial disparities. The study periods were defined as pre-pandemic (January 2018-March 2020), pandemic (April 2020-March 2022), and post-pandemic (April 2022-June 2024). We applied interrupted time series analysis and difference-in-difference (DID) models to assess changes in mortality trends and disparities across three periods. DID estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were reported. Results From January 2018 to June 2024, there were 3,694,282 Black and 17,284,929 White individuals who gave live birth. The pregnancy-related mortality ratio (PRMR) was 68.0 deaths per 100,000 live births among Black individuals (2,513 deaths) and 26.3 among White individuals (4,547 deaths). The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) was 46.5 for Black individuals (1,718 deaths) and 17.6 for White individuals (3,044 deaths). From the pre-pandemic to pandemic period, PRMR increased by 29.4 per 100,000 (95% CI = 19.8-39.1) among Black individuals and by 11.8 (95% CI = 8.2-15.4) among White individuals, with a DID of 17.6 (95% CI = 7.3-28.0). From the pre-pandemic to post-pandemic period, PRMR increased by 9.5 (95% CI = 3.2-15.9) for Black individuals and by 1.6 (95% CI = -0.4-3.7) for White individuals, with a DID of 7.9 (95% CI = 1.2-14.6). Results for MMR were consistent with those for PRMR. Conclusions These findings indicate a significant and sustained increase in PRMR and MMR among Black individuals, while rates among White individuals returned to near pre-pandemic levels. Racial disparities in pregnancy-related and maternal mortality widened during the COVID-19 pandemic and continued in the post-pandemic period.

Indexed as

covid-19cross-sectional studieshealth disparitiesinterrupted time series analysismaternal mortalitypregnancy-related mortality

Identifiers

PMID40970029
PMCPMC12443457

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.