LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show Kentucky's maternal mortality rate is about twice the national average. It's a concerning trend, but a local doula is hoping a new recommendation for care is just the start of a greater effort to improve maternal health care.
Numbers from 2018-20 show Kentucky had a maternal mortality rate of 39.7 per 100,000, nearly double the national average of 20.4, the CDC said. Nationally, the Black maternal mortality rate jumped from 44 deaths per 100,000 in 2019 to 55.3 in 2020. Comparatively, the rate among Hispanic mothers was 18.2 and 19.1 for white mothers.
Much of the complications, doctors say, are tied to high blood pressure, which occurs in one in every seven pregnancies, the CDC said. High blood pressure affects more than 1 in 5 delivery hospitalizations of Black women. The prevalence of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy increased from 13% in 2017 to 16% in in 2019.Â
"It's very important to check your blood pressure, especially during pregnancy, because, many times, people cannot feel high blood pressure," Dr. Li Zhou, medical director of Norton Healthcare's Heart & Vascular Institute Women's Heart Program, said Thursday. "Having a very high blood pressure can cause a life-threatening situation in pregnancy. Not only will they damage important organs of your body, such as your heart, brain and kidney, but, many times, they will threaten the life of your baby."
High blood pressure can lead to preeclampsia, heart attack, organ damage and other severe medical conditions that can threaten the mother or baby's health. Now, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force is recommending doctors monitor blood pressure in all patients throughout their pregnancy.Â
Alexa Hughes at Granny's Birth Initiative, a Louisville nonprofit entirely focused on serving pregnant people and parents, said that gives her hope.
"It makes me feel like that they're finally starting to speak about some of the things that, honestly, have been obvious, especially when it comes to the Black maternal health crisis," she said. "We already know that hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a condition that runs rampant in populations of color."
Hughes already has plans to offer maternal fitness classes to help future moms stay healthy. She's also teaming up with a local pediatrician to get herself and other doulas trained in how to take a patient's blood pressure.
Dr. Beverly Gaines, the pediatrician partnering with Hughes, is looking forward to the partnership.
"I think that will be extremely important in anticipating and maybe addressing early problems with hypertension so we don't see preeclampsia, we don't see eclampsia, we don't see seizures in mothers," Dr. Gaines said. "We see healthier babies."Â Â
She, too, is hopeful for what national attention on the issue could mean long-term for maternal health.
"My hope is that this peek into blood pressure will go into everything about health," Gaines said. "That this will just help broaden our whole way of thinking about prevention."
Hughes wants to work more closely with medical providers in the area, to keep moms-to-be as healthy as possible.
"I think we can have a domino effect ... of seeing our blood pressure and our maternal health crisis getting better," she said.
Hughes and medical professionals alike are hoping national attention on the issue will impact how people consider prevention for the safety of pregnant patients.
"We can do so much to prevent it from happening," Zhao said.
Copyright 2023 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
