The COVID-19 pandemic mobilized health resources for the care of patients with COVID-19 overloading health services. This caused regular care to be drastically limited, regarding the timely diagnosis and treatment of other ailments different from COVID-19. Services related to health prevention and promotion, provided within health institutions to the general population, were also negatively affected, a pattern that was repeated worldwide. In Mexico, we analyzed the provision of prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care services to women and their newborns during the first two years of the pandemic (2020-2021). This information was compared with that from 2018-2019, two years prior to the onset of the pandemic. The analysis provides information at a state and national level, based on hospital discharges reported by health authorities. All information used was provided by official sources. We also discriminated between those women who, during their pregnancy, childbirth, or puerperium, had had COVID-19, including information regarding newborns. Our study analyzed the implementation of policies and strategies aimed at reducing maternal mortality and preventing the spread of COVID-19 among pregnant women, considered a population at risk for the disease. Finally, we contrasted the main policies and strategies aimed at increasing the health of mothers and their newborns implemented in Mexico, to the recommendations issued by international health authorities. Finally, in all our comparisons, we contrast indigenous and non-indigenous population.
