By Katheryn Houghton | KFF Health News
Sara McGinnis was pregnant with her second child and something felt off. Her body was swollen. She was tired and dizzy.
Her husband, Bradley McGinnis, said she had told her doctor and nurses about her symptoms and even went to the emergency room when they worsened. But, Bradley said, what his wife was told in response was, “‘It’s summertime and you’re pregnant.’ That haunts me.”
Two days later, Sara had a massive stroke followed by a seizure. It happened on the way to the hospital, where she was headed again due to a splitting headache.
Sara, from Kalispell, Montana, never met her son, Owen, who survived through an emergency delivery and has her oval eyes and thick dark hair. She died the day after he was born.
Sara had eclampsia, a sometimes deadly pregnancy complication caused by persistent high blood pressure, also known as hypertension. High blood pressure makes the heart work in overdrive, which can damage organs.
Sara died in 2018. Today, more pregnant people are being diagnosed with dangerously high blood pressure, a finding that could save their lives. Recent studies show the rates of newly developed and chronic maternal high blood pressure have roughly doubled since 2007. Researchers say the jump in cases is likely due in part to more testing that discovers the conditions.
But that’s not the whole story. Data shows that the overall maternal mortality rate in the U.S. is also climbing, with high blood pressure one of the leading causes.
Medical experts are trying to stem the tide. In 2022, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists lowered the threshold for when doctors should treat pregnant and postpartum patients for high blood pressure. And federal agencies offer training in best practices for screening and care. Federal data shows that maternal deaths from high blood pressure declined in Alaska and West Virginia after implementation of those guidelines. But applying those standards…
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