While pregnancy and childbirth can be an exciting occasion, there are also many concerns and complications that come with it.
Dr. Rebecca Jameson, an Obstetrician Gynecologist at the Detroit Medical Center, appeared on “Live in The D” to talk about reducing the risks for complications associated with pregnancy.
When it comes to pregnancy-related complications, black women are more likely to experience them compared to white women. There are many reasons why women may see complications within pregnancy, one of them being social.
“Lack of insurance or lack of quality care providers in their area, lack of transportation, adequate housing, difficulty with food security,” Jameson said are some potential social complications.
On the other hand, there are also medical issues. “Black women are at a disproportionally higher risk than white women to have some chronical medical conditions that complicate pregnancy such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes” she said.
Jameson said there’s a negative and positive when it comes to those risks.
“It’s difficult to reduce the risk for some of the social factors, but the medical factors we can definitely reduce risk for,” she said. Part of reducing the medical risks includes having care with a primary care provider before a women is pregnant.
“Making sure that any of those chronical medical conditions that a woman has are well taken care of prior to pregnancy,” she said.
To learn more, watch the video above or click here.