Not sepsis or haemorrhage, COVID caused most deaths in new mothers in Mumbai: Report
COVID-19 has surpassed haemorrhage, sepsis, hypertensive disorders and tuberculosis to become the foremost cause of maternal mortality in Mumbai, says Brihamumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) data.
The data which was accessed by the Times of India said that after analyzing 193 maternal deaths in Mumbai between April 2020 and March 2021, it was found that 16.5 per cent were result of COVID complications.
While sepsis, an infection which damages tissue and leads to organ failure and death is the second-most cause, contributing to 12 per cent of the deaths, tuberculosis and haemorrhage accounted for 8.8 per cent each. The least of the lot or 4 per cent died due to heath ailments.
The good news, however, is 2o20-21 saw a 20 per cent drop in maternal mortality figures from 241 in 2019-20, which in turn is being ascribed to fewer births due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As many as 1.20 lakh births were registered in 2020-21 compared to the average of 1.50 lakh births in the city.
If the figures of 2020-21 are compared with those from the previous year, a spike has been seen in deaths due to tuberculosis, a lung-related ailment, which has taken the maternal mortality rate from 5 per cent before the COVID-19 outbreak to 8.8 per cent in 2020-21.
A doctor from BYL Nair Hospital told TOI that COVID aggravates lung-related complications in a small percentage of pregnant women.
“In our experience, most (pregnant women) stay symptomatic and mildly symptomatic. Many found out they had COVID at the time of delivery,” he said.
The hospitals has handled around 1,500 pregnancies since April 2020. But the second wave of the pandemic saw more deaths – around 28 or a whopping 68 per cent of 43 new mothers died in April-May this year due to COVID.
With sepsis, haemorrhage and hypertension being the most common causes of maternal mortality, Dr Arun Nayak, head of gynaecology at Sion Hospital told TOI that the recent contribution of COVID towards the deaths could be a hint that the etiology of maternal deaths is changing and calls for further research into the matter.
Other gynaecologists fear COVID is a major threat to expecting mothers and say they must be inoculated on priority.
“Second wave has shown us the rate of maternal deaths, complications, still births and premature births was at least 7-8 times more in pregnant women. People make the mistake of comparing COVID incidence and deaths in pregnant women with the general population. They should compare pregnant women with COVID and pregnant women without COVID to understand the big difference in mortality,” Dr Alpesh Gandhi, president of Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) told TOI.
