Study ties ‘gendered racial microaggressions’ to high blood pressure in mothers of color

Pregnant women of color who complain about medical professionals committing “gendered racial microaggressions” during OB/GYN visits are more likely to experience elevated blood pressure after giving birth, a study shows.

Three researchers reported this month in Hypertension, a journal of the American Heart Association, that more than one-third of 373 Asian, Black and Hispanic mothers they studied reported at least one “GRM” while receiving obstetrical care at four maternity hospitals in Philadelphia and Queens, New York.

Others pushed back on the conclusions. Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, chairman of the anti-woke medical advocacy group Do No Harm, criticized the study’s lack of data on participants’ diet habits and prenatal blood pressure trends.

He called its definition of microaggressions “highly subjective,” noted that many Black women do not receive prenatal care during the first trimester of pregnancy and dismissed its analysis of structural racism in economic and housing conditions as irrelevant to patient-doctor interactions.

Read more in The Washington Times.