Perinatal Care Changes During COVID-19: A Population-Based Analysis by Race/Ethnicity

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 public health emergency created unprecedented disruptions in the use of healthcare services, which could have affected long-standing racial‒ethnic disparities in maternal care use and outcomes. This study evaluates population-level changes in perinatal health services associated with the COVID-19 pandemic overall and by maternal race‒ethnicity.

Methods: In this analysis of all U.S. live births from 2016 to 2020, interrupted time-series analysis was used to estimate the change in the mean number of prenatal care visits and rates of hospital birth, labor induction, and cesarean delivery associated with the start of the pandemic (March 2020) overall and by maternal race‒ethnicity. Analyses were conducted in 2022.

Results: The start of the pandemic was associated with overall decreases in the mean number of prenatal care visits, decreases in hospital birth rates, and increases in labor induction rates. The mean number of prenatal care visits decreased similarly for all racial‒ethnic groups, whereas reductions in hospital births were largest for non-Hispanic White individuals, and increases in labor induction were largest for non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander individuals.

Conclusions: Among all U.S. live births, the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with modest overall changes in perinatal care, with differential changes by maternal race‒ethnicity. Differential changes in perinatal services may have implications for racial-ethnic maternal health disparities.