Analysis of Residential Segregation and Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Severe Maternal Morbidity Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Persistent racial and ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity (SMM) in the US remain a public health concern. Structural racism leaves women of color in a disadvantaged situation especially during COVID-19, leading to disproportionate pandemic afflictions among racial and ethnic minority women.

Objective

To examine racial and ethnic disparities in SMM rates before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and whether the disparities varied with level of Black residential segregation.

Design, setting, and participants

A statewide population-based retrospective cohort study used birth certificates linked to all-payer childbirth claims data in South Carolina. Participants included women who gave birth between January 2018 and June 2021. Data were analyzed from

SUBMITTER: Hung P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9585430 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature