Preeclampsia is a significant global health problem affecting over 10 million pregnancies each year. Preeclampsia disproportionately burdens ethnic minority women, especially African American women when compared to non-Hispanic white women. Once diagnosed with preeclampsia, African women are 3 times more likely to die of preeclampsia compared to their white counterparts. Evidence supports contribution of social risk factors towards racial and ethnic disparities seen with preeclampsia. However, currently, there are few trials that examine efficacy of social risks-focused lifestyle interventions on reduction of preeclampsia and its complications. This proposal is designed to address this crucial gap by testing feasibility (Aim 1), acceptability (Aim 1) and efficacy (Aim 2) of a social risks-focused lifestyle intervention to reduce preeclampsia in pregnant inner-city African American women. The intervention will be delivered via a randomized control trial design (N=100), with 6 monthly group sessions conducted in the second and third trimesters. The overall hypothesis is that the intervention will be feasible and acceptable, and that women randomized to the intervention group will have lower blood pressure and lower rates of preeclampsia compared with women receiving routine prenatal care.
