Maternal near miss: before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare Maternal Near Miss prevalence and outcomes before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. METHODS: This retrospective study was carried out in a university maternity hospital of high complexity. The population was divided into two groups: G1, 1 year before the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic period (August 2018–July 2019) and G2, 1 year during the pandemic period (August 2020–July 2021). All pregnant/postpartum women hospitalized up to 42 days after the end of pregnancy/childbirth were included, and pregnant women who were admitted with coronavirus disease 2019/flu symptoms were excluded. The association of variables with “Maternal Near Miss” was estimated using logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 568 women from G1 and 349 women from G2 fulfilled the Maternal Near Miss criteria. The prevalence of Maternal Near Miss in pre-pandemic was 144.1/1,000 live births and during the pandemic was 78.5/1,000 live births. In the analysis adjusted for G1, the factors of days of hospitalization (PR: 1.02, CI: 1.0–1.0, p<0.05), pre-eclampsia (PR: 0.41, CI: 1.4–2.2, p<0.05), and sepsis/severe systemic infection (PR: 1.79, CI: 0.3–0.4, p<0.05) were crucial for women with the Maternal Near Miss condition to have a greater chance of being admitted to the intensive care unit. In G2, low education (PR: 0.45, CI: 0.2–0.9, p<0.05), eclampsia (PR: 5.28, CI: 3.6–7.6, p<0.05), and use of blood products (PR: 6.48, CI: 4.7–8.8, p<0.05) increased the risk of admission to the intensive care unit. CONCLUSION: During the pandemic, there was a lower prevalence of Maternal Near Miss in high-risk pregnancies, fewer hospitalizations, and more deaths compared to the non-pandemic period.