Stanford studies find pregnant Black women at higher risk from chronic health conditions

Two new studies from the Stanford University School of Medicine reveal significant differences between races in rates of birth complications caused by high blood pressure and anemia during pregnancy.

The studies, published Thursday in the peer-reviewed medical journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, looked at the prevalence of birth complications caused by chronic hypertension, or high blood pressure, in pregnant women and the rates of complications from iron-deficiency anemia, excluding patients with anemia caused by genetic factors.