Differences in delivery hospitalization experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic by maternal race and ethnicity, Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, 2020

Objective We investigated maternal COVID-19 related experiences during delivery hospitalizations, and whether experiences differed by maternal race and ethnicity. Study design Data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System among women with live births between April–December 2020 were used. Adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) estimated associations between maternal race and ethnicity and COVID-19 related delivery experiences. Results Among 12,879 women, 3.6% reported infant separation and 1.8% reported not being allowed support persons. Compared with non-Hispanic White women, American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) (aPR = 2.7; CI: 1.2–6.2), Hispanic (aPR = 2.2; CI: 1.5–3.1), non-Hispanic Black (aPR = 2.4; CI: 1.7–3.6), and non-Hispanic Asian (aPR = 2.8; CI: 1.6–4.9) women reported more infant separation due to COVID-19. Not being allowed support persons was more common among AI/AN (aPR = 5.2; CI: 1.8–14.8) and non-Hispanic Black (aPR = 2.3; CI: 1.3–4.1) women. Conclusions COVID-19 related delivery hospitalization experiences were unequally distributed among racial and ethnic minorities.