American Heart Association volunteer expert, Karen Joynt Maddox, M.D., MPH, assistant professor, Washington University School of Medicine, Associate Program Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Cardiovascular Fellowship Program, Co-Director, Center for Health Economics and Policy, Institute for Public Health at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.

Offering perspective on AHA Scientific Sessions 2020 Presentation 209 
copyright American Heart Association 2020

"Increase over the timeframe and the study is really remarkable. The fact that hypertension has gone up so much in pregnancies and that's particularly notable in rural areas makes me worry that it has something to do with access that people simply aren't getting the care that they need both during the pregnancy and then between pregnancies. We know that a lot of women have access to healthcare coverage during their pregnancy because of Medicaid, but then they may fall off that coverage you know, six weeks, eight weeks after pregnancy and really taking care of women between pregnancies and encouraging cardiovascular health is crucial for having healthy pregnancies in the future. We know that a lot of risk factors like high blood pressure are more common in rural areas as well as in some urban areas where there is a similar lack of access to care and really addressing those things not only during the pregnancy but between pregnancies could help us to improve outcomes for moms and babies of the pregnancy but also in terms of their longterm cardiovascular health."