How South Africa is integrating COVID into routine care for mothers and babies

Policies to stop the spread of COVID disadvantaged mothers and newborns. Shutterstock

COVID-19 has had a direct impact on maternal mortality.

Pregnant women are not at an increased risk of becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2. But data show they are at higher risk of severe COVID-19 disease. This is especially the case in the last 12 weeks of pregnancy, and this is still the case two years into the pandemic.