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Being Told to 'Calm Down,' Other Microaggressions May Raise Risk for Postpartum Hypertension

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Jan 10, 2025.

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Jan. 10, 2025 -- The words “calm down” are worse than unhelpful -- they actually can increase blood pressure among new mothers of color, a study has found.

Gender-based racism through such microaggressions significantly increased a new mom’s blood pressure, compared to women not subjected to these sort of comments, researchers reported in a study published Jan. 9 in the journal Hypertension.

And effects on blood pressure were even more pronounced among women living in areas with high levels of structural racism.

“It is well-known that Black, Hispanic and South Asian women experience microaggressions during health care. It is not as well known whether these microaggressions may have an association with higher blood pressure,” lead researcher Teresa Janevic, an associate professor of epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York, said in a news release from the college.

For the study, researchers asked nearly 400 women of color who gave birth at four hospitals in Philadelphia and New York City about the microaggressions they faced during their care.

The women ranted in age from 16 to 46, with about 43% between 20 and 29.

Examples included “I have been disrespected,” “Someone told me to calm down,” and “Someone accused me of being angry when speaking assertively.”

Nearly two in five women (38%) reported at least one instance of microaggression during their pregnancy care, results show.

Those who experienced one or more instance of microaggression had average systolic blood pressure that was 2.12 points higher, and diastolic that was 1.43 points higher. Systolic blood pressure measures the pressure in arteries during a heartbeat, and diastolic the pressure between heartbeats.

Women living in areas with more structural racism had even higher differences in blood pressure due to microaggression -- systolic readings 7.55 points higher and diastolic readings 6.03 points higher.

A preventive health expert not involved in the research, Dr. Natalie Cameron, called the effects observed in the study “profound.”

“For many people, this can make the difference between needing blood pressure lowering medications or not,” Cameron, an instructor in preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a news release.

Future research is needed to better explore how racism influences blood pressure, as well as its effects on the health of mothers and their infants, researchers said.

“This work serves as a reminder of the long-term impact that racism can have on one’s overall health. The magnitude of these types of physiologic changes may become cumulative over time and lead to the inequities we see in many health outcomes,” senior researcher Dr. Lisa Levine, director of the Pregnancy and Heart Disease Program and chief of the Maternal Fetal Medicine Division at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, concluded in a news release.

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted January 2025

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