Half of pregnant women admitted to hospital with coronavirus were from BAME backgrounds, study finds
- The study is from Oxford University’s Nuffield Department of Population Health
- It found 233 out of 427 pregnant women in hospital with coronavirus were BAME
- Five women died, three of them directly from coronavirus-related complications
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Over half of the total amount of pregnant women who were admitted to UK hospitals with coronavirus were from a black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) background, a new study has found.
It found that of the 427 pregnant women in hospital during March 1 and April 14, 233 (56 per cent) were from BAME backgrounds, of which 103 were Asian and 90 were black.
The British Medical Journal published the peer-reviewed research from the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Population Health.
Research leader Professor Marian Knight said the findings now require ‘urgent investigation and explanation’.
A new study found that out of the total 427 pregnant women who were admitted to hospital with coronavirus over half (103) were from a BAME background. Pictured: Stock photo of a pregnant woman from a BAME background
The high number of pregnant women from BAME groups stayed the same when major urban centres were left out of the analysis.
The study comes as Public Health England found that people from BAME backgrounds have a higher risk of dying from coronavirus than white people.
Most of the women in the study, which was based on data from the UK Obstetric Surveillance System, were in the late second or third trimester of their pregnancy.
Some 69 per cent were classed as overweight or obese, 41 per cent were aged 35 or over, and a third had pre-existing health conditions.
Five pregnant women died with three of them dying as a direct result of complications with coronavirus.
Of all the 233 BAME pregnant women in hospital for coronavirus 41 (10 per cent) needed respiratory support in a critical care unit.
Twelve of 265 babies born to mothers in the study tested positive for coronavirus – six of them within 12 hours of being born.
Of all the 233 BAME pregnant women in hospital for coronavirus 41 (10 per cent) needed respiratory support in a critical care unit. Pictured: Stock photo of a pregnant woman from a BAME background
‘The high proportion of women from black or minority ethnic groups admitted with infection needs urgent investigation and explanation,’ the study said.
The study said most of the pregnant women had ‘good outcomes’ and the transmission of coronavirus to infants was ‘uncommon’.
The authors said the report was produced at a time when active transmission of coronavirus was still occurring, with about 100 infected pregnant women admitted to hospital in the UK each week.
‘We sought to collect national, population-based information on severe SARS-CoV-2 infection, defined as hospital admission, to capture the incidence and outcomes of severe disease in pregnancy,’ the authors said.
‘This study does not therefore provide any information about overall infection rates or the possibility of asymptomatic infection.’
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