Exclusive: Cambridge research finds socioenvironmental stressors may influence body’s ability to function healthily in pregnancy
Stress from racism and deprivation could explain why black women are more likely to die during childbirth, a study has found.
Researchers reviewed 44 existing studies that examined three physiological pathways associated with worse pregnancy outcomes: oxidative stress, inflammation, and uteroplacental vascular resistance, and found black women had higher levels of the three metrics.
Such physiological differences are not the result of genetic differences, according to the researchers, but rather suggest that socioenvironmental stressors such as systemic racism and deprivation, which are known to have a measurable biological effect, may influence the body’s ability to function healthily during pregnancy.
Grace Amedor, of the University of Cambridge, the first author of the peer-reviewed study published in the journal Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, said: “Pregnancy and childbirth put great stress on a woman’s body. Black women may experience additional strain due to factors including systemic racism, socioeconomic disadvantage and environmental stressors.
