The results of a new study from the United Kingdom indicate that, among a cohort of over 400 pregnant women, those who are black or of ethnic minority backgrounds were some of the most likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19.
A recent analysis of medical records in the U.K. has shown that black people are four times more likely than their white counterparts to test positive for COVID-19, the disease that can result from an infection with the new coronavirus.
Other researchers have picked up on “mounting evidence” of the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on black people and people of ethnic minorities in the U.K. and elsewhere.
In an interview with Medical News Today, Prof. Tiffany Green, an expert on race-related health disparities from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explained that, to a great extent, the increased risk of infection and poor outcomes among people of color is due to widespread discrimination.
This pervasive discrimination, she told MNT, is likely to lead to greater exposure to environments in which the virus spreads more easily, as well as to reduced access to medical care when needed.
As a result, it may come as no surprise that a new study from the U.K., made available online in preprint form, has found that among pregnant women hospitalized with COVID-19 in the country, as many as 56% were women who are black or of ethnic minorities.
The new study was conducted by investigators from the University of
Oxford, King’s College London, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, the University of Leeds, Imperial College London, University College London, and the University of Birmingham.
The researchers analyzed data from 427 pregnant women admitted to hospitals af