With the help of maternal mortality experts, MuckRock is releasing a first-of-its-kind dataset that includes nationwide and a selection of statewide data on maternal deaths during the pandemic. We’re also asking for people who have experienced the death of a family member or friend from pregnancy-related complications to tell us their stories.

Unspecific, unknown deaths rose 10 times more among Black, Hispanic and Indigenous people than among white Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new analysis by MuckRock. The true toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on many communities of color is worse than previously known.

In a first-of-its-kind analysis, we have detailed death certificate records in Chicago; California’s Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego; Minnesota; and New Mexico, allowing us to search for words associated with Long COVID. Here’s what we found.

In its award announcement, the Institute for Nonprofit News noted that “this collaboration among five newsrooms revealed stark disparities in the way medical examiners reported cause of death during the pandemic and introduced a new method of analyzing mortality data.”