It's Black Maternal Health Week, an annual campaign to raise awareness, activism and community-building to improve maternal health outcomes for Black women.

Black women are three times more likely to die during pregnancy and often have higher rates of conditions like preeclampsia, a serious blood pressure disorder that can be fatal.

According to the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Black pregnant women are 1.5 to two times more likely to develop the condition than women of other races.

“While we educate all of our moms about preeclampsia, we specifically try to pay very close attention to our Black moms to make sure that they know warning signs and symptoms. And the Blue Band project was born out of that,” Dr. Melanie Altizer, chief of obstetrics at St. Mary’s Medical Center, said.

Altizer said when women come into the emergency room or call 911 and health care workers see they are wearing the blue wristband, they will know immediately what to do to help.

“Oftentimes, moms don't develop blood pressure problems or symptoms, such as headaches or risk of stroke, until after delivery. And so, we no longer teach: once you deliver, you're kind of out of the woods. You're still at risk within definitely that first six weeks and even up to the first year,” Altizer said.

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