New York, Nov 20 (IANS): Pregnant women were five-times as likely to die of Covid-19 when the Delta variant became the dominant strain in the US, finds a new report.

According to DailyMail, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed that pregnant women are at increased risk of severe complications from Covid-19 and they only rose during the Delta variant wave.

Reports published by the agency found the rate of pregnant women dying of Covid-19 during the period of time where the Delta variant was the nation's dominant strain increased five-fold.

Pre-Delta, five out of every 1,000 pregnant women who contracted the virus during pregnancy died compared to a staggering 25 out of every 1,000 during the Delta period, the report said.

The researchers also found that pregnant women who were infected at the time of birth were twice as likely to suffer a stillbirth, it added.

The CDC team analysed pregnancy death data from Mississippi from March 2020 to October 2021 for one of their reports.

They found 15 deaths associated with Covid among pregnant women in the state during the 19 months, out of 1,637 total infections recorded.

In the pre-Delta period, from March 2020 to June 2021, six deaths were reported among pregnant women -- or five out of every 1,000 infections.

The number quickly ramped up during the Delta period, from July to October 2021, with nine deaths among pregnant women recorded - or 25 per every 1,000 infections.

Of the 15 women who died, 14 had an underlying medical condition that put them at even further risk of complications from the virus.

None of them were fully vaccinated and only one was at least partially vaccinated.

Three died during their pregnancy, leading to two stillbirths and one spontaneous abortion.

Seven of the women required an emergency C-section operation for their unborn child to survive and 12 women died shortly after giving birth.