COVID contributed to a quarter of maternal deaths in 2021, 2020: GAO

Maternal mortality rose during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the virus contributing to a quarter of all maternal deaths in 2020 and 2021.

According to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), COVID-19 caused most of the increase in maternal deaths in the last two years, contributing to 25 percent of deaths.

The average number of monthly maternal deaths ranged from the mid-50s to the mid-60s in the two years before the pandemic bega...