Hypertension is rising in Black and Indigenous pregnant people but treatment is not

A new study discovered hypertension doubled in Black and Indigenous pregnant people, raising concerns around treatment.

While the maternal mortality rate has decreased after rising to alarming new highs early on during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers have discovered a new risk for Black pregnant people.

According to a new study, hypertension, also referred to as high blood pressure, among Black and Indigenous pregnant people in the United States doubled between 2007 and 2021. Despite that sharp rise, the study also found that only 60% of those in need received proper treatment.

“These findings are deeply concerning because of the high rate of U.S. maternal mortality, which is linked to chronic hypertension in pregnancy,” said study lead Stephanie Leonard, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at Stanford University School of Medicine in California, in a release.

Leonard added, “Despite the availability of safe and effective treatments for chronic hypertension, the study speaks to an urgent need for improvement in care for this serious condition.”

The study, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health through grant funding and published in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension, analyzed commercial insurance claims of 1.9 million pregnant people, ranging in age from 12 to 55, over a 14-year period. Researchers examined cases of chronic hypertension and the rate at which physicians treated them.

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The NIH defines chronic hypertension or chronic high blood pressure during pregnancy as when a person’s readings indicate 140/90 millimeters of mercury or higher before pregnancy or within the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. High blood pressure during pregnancy can cause organ damage in mothers and increase the risk of preterm birth or low birth weight babies.

Researchers did not study the reason behind the increase among Black and Indigenous pregnant people. However, they aren’t ruling out the rising maternal age and other factors. Strikingly, over half of Black Americans have high blood pressure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Untreated high blood pressure can have really serious consequences for both someone who’s pregnant and the baby in the short term, as well as over their whole life,” Leonard told USA Today when discussing the study.

Nearly all complications of pregnancy can be managed, as four out of five maternal deaths are preventable. This is especially true for high blood pressure. To manage hypertension during pregnancy, experts suggest pregnant people continually monitor blood pressure both at home and with a doctor and take antihypertensive medications as prescribed.

“We need to better understand gaps in treatment for chronic hypertension, especially in these high-risk groups,” Candice A. Price, Ph.D., a program director at NIH’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, said in the study’s release. “If we’re not detecting and treating chronic hypertension early, that’s a missed opportunity for protecting heart health during and after pregnancy,” added Price, who specializes in women’s health research.