But while the reasons for the disparity are not nailed down, doctors need to be aware of it, Kapadia said.
In general, he said, women who develop cardiovascular complications during or after pregnancy have warning signs prior. They include gestational (pregnancy-related) high blood pressure and diabetes, and preeclampsia — a complication marked by elevated blood pressure and signs of damage to organs such as the kidneys or liver.
Women with those conditions need to see their doctor regularly after giving birth, according to Kapadia. But as new moms become focused on their newborns, their own health care may fall by the wayside.
“We have to pay attention to mothers’ health, too,” Kapadia said.
The findings, published Dec. 16 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, are based on records from more than 46 million U.S. women who were hospitalized during or soon after pregnancy between 2007 and 2017.
Very few women died in the hospital, but the rate was highest among Black women — at 0.03%, compared to rates of 0.01% among white, Hispanic, and Asian women.
When the researchers weighed other factors, like chronic health conditions, obesity, and smoking, Black women still had a 45% higher risk of death than white women.
As for cardiovascular complications, cardiomyopathy was most common, affecting 0.3% of Black women, compared to 0.1% of white women. And while rates of heart attack, stroke, and blood clots were even lower, they were relatively higher among Black women.