Ashley Peoples | UAB School of Education Community Health & Human Services Intern

Preeclampsia is a condition where the blood pressure of a pregnant women increases beyond the normal range. So, how do African American women prevent preeclampsia? The first step to preventing preeclampsia is education.

Maintaining blood pressure is one of the keys to preventing preeclampsia and is something African American should be aware of. The article “Preeclampsia” states women who have a top blood pressure that is 140 or greater and bottom blood pressure of 90 and greater are at higher risk (Karrar & Hong, 2023). The CDC suggests women buy a at home blood pressure machine, and keep it monitored.

Karrar and Hong states “Like hypertensive disorders, the incidence of preeclampsia is correlated to ethnicity and race, most prevalent among African American”. Exercise is another preventive method for preeclampsia. Exercise can improve blood pressure and help keep it maintained. The BMC Public Health states “After a 12-week exercise intervention among healthy and nonactive pregnant women, the changes in resting blood pressure between intervention and baseline were assessed, and the researchers found that regular, long-term physical exercise significantly reduced resting systolic blood pressure” (Zhu et al., 2022).

I encourage all African American women to who are pregnant (or planning to get pregnant) to educate themselves on preeclampsia. I hope that this blog can help many African American women avoid the risks that come with preeclampsia. When we educate ourselves, we make a difference in our own health.

References:       

Karrar, S., & Hong, P. (n.d.). Preeclampsia – statpearls – NCBI bookshelf. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK570611/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, June 19). High blood pressure during pregnancy. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/pregnancy.htm

Zhu, Z., Xie, H., Liu, S., Yang, R., Yu, J., Yan, Y., Wang, X., Zhang, Z., & Yan, W. (2022). Effects of physical exercise on blood pressure during pregnancy. BMC Public Health, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14074-z