Excess Maternal Deaths Associated with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Mexico

Abstract

Almost 20 million people worldwide have been infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as of August 10, 2020.1 Although the burden of maternal mortality related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in high-income countries appears limited, low-and middle-income countries may be affected differently. 2 The Mexican Ministry of Health publishes weekly epidemiologic reports describing the count of total maternal deaths, their causes, and the maternal mortality ratio.3 Using this open source, we aimed to estimate the weekly number, weekly percentage, and total number of excess deaths from all causes that could be directly or indirectly attributed to COVID-19 based on preliminary weekly counts of deaths from 2011 through the 32nd week of 2020 (August 3 9). In addition, we describe the maternal mortality ratio over time and causes of mortality since 2011.