• Hypertension 

This is simply high blood pressure. Your blood pressure rises when your body has to pump more blood around your body and when your arteries are narrowed. According to the CDC, black women over 20 years old are half times more likely to have hypertension than caucasian women of that same age. 

The symptoms of high blood pressure are often unnoticed. Your OB/GYN takes a blood pressure reading at each visit and will indicate to you if they think your blood pressure is elevated or higher than it should be. It is therefore very important to keep your regular prenatal appointments during pregnancy. 

• Preeclampsia

Preeclampsia results from untreated hypertension. In preeclampsia, you are suffering from high blood pressure as well as damage to your essential organs. It typically begins after week 20 of pregnancy and black women are three times at risk for this complication than white women. 

Symptoms include unusual swelling of the hands or face, headaches that are severe and persistent, changes in eyesight such as blurry or spotty vision, pain under your ribs, pain in the shoulder, decreased urination and shortness of breath. Most importantly always pay attention to your pee. Foamy pee could be a sign of kidney damage. 

• Eclampsia

Untreated preeclampsia leads to eclampsia. Eclampsia is basically preeclampsia with seizures that have the possibility of leading to coma and even death. There are no specific signs outside of seizures to indicate eclampsia. But the symptoms can be related to those that show up in preeclampsia. The best way to keep yourself safe is to go to prenatal appointments on schedule especially if you are black and at higher risk. 

• Fibroids

These are benign tumors that develop on or in the uterus. They are non-cancerous and highly prevalent in black women. About half of black women develop symptomatic fibroids compared to just a quarter of white women, according to information found in the Merck Manual. Black women also tend to have fibroids at younger ages and happen to have more severe symptoms. 

Symptoms to look out for include, intense cramping, heavy bleeding, trouble fully emptying your bladder, a feeling of fullness in your pelvis, or a persistent urge to pee. 

• Gestational Diabetes

This is diabetes that presents itself during pregnancy in individuals who had no previous diagnosis of diabetes. When your body has trouble using or making insulin this results in high levels of sugar in your blood. Gestational diabetes tends to show up at week 24 of pregnancy. 

Gestational diabetes often doesn’t cause any symptoms. The best thing to do is once again, make it to all your prenatal visits and do all the recommended tests and monitoring activities so that this can be diagnosed as early as possible. This ensures that you can catch any abnormalities before they turn into more serious and even life-threatening complications. 

• Peripartum Cardiomyopathy

PPCM for short is a very rare form of heart failure. It typically sets in in the final month of pregnancy and women remain at risk up to 5 months postpartum. When the heart becomes too weak to pump blood throughout the body, organs such as the lungs work harder. 

Symptoms of PPCM include heart palpitations, fatigue, frequent urination at night, shortness of breath when lying down, feeling faint when standing up, swollen neck veins, and swollen ankles. 

As you can note, a lot of those symptoms sound like your regular pregnancy symptom. Again this is why it is important to keep your regular scheduled prenatal appointments. Your doctor will monitor you appropriately and if anything seems out of the ordinary they will indicate such to you. 

• Stroke

A stroke interrupts the blood supply to the brain and can lead to brain cell death in just a manner of minutes. Many of the conditions mentioned above put black pregnant women at higher risk of stroke. High blood pressure is the leading cause of stroke that occurs during pregnancy and postpartum. 

Signs of a stroke include your legs, arms, or face going numb or weak suddenly on one side of the body. Other symptoms include dizziness, confusion, severe headaches, trouble walking, trouble speaking, trouble understanding others, or trouble seeing. 

• Postpartum Hemorrhage

Postpartum hemorrhage is a potentially deadly complication. This occurs when someone suffers from severe blood loss after the birth process. A 2018 study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology indicates that black women are more at risk for this condition. 

There are not many symptoms to look for as this happens during delivery or right after. Your care team will be responsible for realizing if you are bleeding too much and taking the necessary steps to stop the bleeding. 

• Venous Thromboembolism

This is having blood clots in your veins. When this occurs in the legs or arms it is called deep vein thrombosis. If the clot breaks off and travels to the lungs this is called a pulmonary embolism which is a life-threatening condition. Research shows that black people on a whole are 30 to 60% higher risk of getting this health issue than white people. 

When you get pregnant you become 5 times more likely to have a blood clot. This is because your blood clots easily during pregnancy as a way to reduce the risk of postpartum hemorrhage during delivery and postpartum. 

Symptoms will show up in the affected body parts such as the leg or arm. You may notice warmth, redness, pain, and swelling. If you have a pulmonary embolism your symptoms will include trouble breathing, irregular heartbeat, or coughing up blood. 

• Preterm Birth

Births that take place prior to 37 weeks are considered preterm births. This experience can be deadly for the baby. Those who survive are at higher risk of developing respiratory problems as well as developmental delays. Black people according to the CDC have 50% more preterm births than white women. 

Signs are the same as regular labor, contractions at regular intervals, fluid or blood leaking from the vagina, a feeling as if the baby is pushing down. You may also have a dull ache in your lower back and may have diarrhea. 

• Postpartum Depression, Anxiety, and Other Mental Health Conditions

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) notes that black people are at a higher risk of experiencing mental disorders. 

Pregnancy can be a very stressful experience especially for women who lack support. It can be hard for women to vocalize that they are experiencing mental health conditions. It can also be hard to separate regular mood shifts related to pregnancy and ones that may be more serious. 

For postpartum depression, the symptoms can include a sad mood lasting for more than two weeks. You may notice that you have lost all interest in certain things that you would typically be enthusiastic about. If you find yourself crying more than usual, feeling disconnected from your baby, thinking of causing harm to oneself or baby, and doubting one’s ability to take care of your baby. This along with intense worry and fear are signs of postpartum anxiety or more serious postpartum depression. 

If you are having any of the above, talk to your partner, talk to your doctor, or talk to somebody so you can get the support necessary to get through this.