Description
Most women who get pregnant work hard to get and stay healthy for themselves and their babies. However, complications may occur that are outside their control, which is why it’s important that all expectant and new moms are aware of conditions like preeclampsia. Preeclampsia – or pregnancy-related high blood pressure – affects 5-8% of all pregnancies in the U.S. It is a rapidly progressive condition that can have long-term effects on a woman’s heart health, and their baby’s health, too.
The Preeclampsia Foundation has long worked to help women have healthier pregnancies by educating, supporting, and engaging communities about preeclampsia and its risks. This mission is more important than ever, the Foundation says, because high blood pressure – along with stroke and related conditions like diabetes – are affecting women at increasingly younger ages.
“Heart-related problems don’t just happen when you are older, or when you have other medical conditions going on,” says Laney Poye, the Foundation’s director of communications and engagement. “It is something that can affect you during pregnancy and beyond.” The Foundation, Poye says, wants women to start paying attention to their heart health even before they get pregnant, and talk about it with their healthcare providers. The Foundation offers resources on how to do just that, as well as what to ask and do after going through a pregnancy with preeclampsia.
When a woman takes steps like these to protect her future heart health, the payoff can be big, Poye says. In fact, they can be lifesaving, because of the problems that can show up down the road. For example, studies have found that preeclampsia and other blood pressure disorders during pregnancy increase the risk of developing heart disease and stroke up to 15 years after pregnancy. The Foundation has worked for years to establish, through evidence-based research, connections like these.
The Preeclampsia Foundation is especially focused on tackling racial disparities in maternal health in a more formidable way. They are working to make sure that the women who have the greatest chance of developing preeclampsia and other pregnancy related health problems – in the U.S. that is Black or African American women – get more attention. To that end, the Foundation is helping get appropriate, tailored educational materials about pregnancy and postpartum health to communities of color to address these stark disparities.
“We know that we are not going to solve the maternal health crisis here in the U.S. until we really start to address racial disparities,” Poye says. “That is not just about bringing Black, Indigenous and other women of color to the table, but making sure that the seat is pulled out for them and that they are integrated completely into the quality improvement initiatives that we are undertaking at a federal, state, local, and systematic level.”
Initiatives and Resources
The Preeclampsia Foundation offers a host of educational resources and has also started several initiatives to help women protect their health during and after their pregnancy:
My Health Beyond Pregnancy
This downloadable toolkit features forms pregnant women can fill out to help their doctors better understand their heart disease risk factors. The women can then bring those form to medical appointments.
“We feel that this is a way for women to be empowered to take that first step towards heart health,” says Poye. “We don’t want them feeling doom and gloom about the fact that they had hypertension during their pregnancy, because there was really nothing that they did that caused it or that made it worse.”
May is Preeclampsia Awareness Month
This year, the Preeclampsia Foundation is focusing on:
- Educating women on the signs and symptoms of blood pressure disorders, how to address them and what to do to have the best outcome for them and their baby
- Ensuring that every pregnant and postpartum woman understands how to take their blood pressure
- Making certain women understand why healthcare providers are taking their blood pressure
Black Maternal Health Week, April 11-15
The Preeclampsia Foundation plans to celebrate Black Maternal Health Week with MoMMA’s Voices, a coalition of 23 organizations that cover the breadth of maternal health. During the week, the Foundation plans to connect their audiences to resources that can help them have optimal maternal health experiences. It also wants to make sure women have the right kind of support to process the difficult emotional experiences that can come from a traumatic pregnancy complication like preeclampsia.
The Cuff Project
The Cuff Project helps pregnant and postpartum women get access to blood pressure cuffs that they can take home. Videos are available to show women how exactly to take their blood pressure.
A Perfect Partnership with The Heart Truth®
The Preeclampsia Foundation has long been a partner of The Heart Truth® Healthy Hearts Network.
“The Heart Truth has a long-standing history of positive communications and interventions that assist women when they look at their long-term heart health and what factors they can control,” says Poye. “We do not have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to providing resources to our audience.”
The Preeclampsia Foundation and The Heart Truth have worked together for many years for American Heart Month in February, Preeclampsia Awareness Month in May, and High Blood Pressure Education Month in May. This partnership has helped to get critical messages out about what high blood pressure is and how it can affect young women and pregnant women.
The organization will continue to collaborate with The Heart Truth by developing materials that help address specific populations such as African American or Black women, American Indian/Alaska Native women, and women living in rural areas. They will also join forces to create easy-to-understand, accessible resources for patients, as well as materials that help providers better serve their patients.
Learn more about The Heart Truth and the Preeclampsia Foundation.
