Test approved to detect preeclampsia, leading cause of US maternal deaths

A doctor examines a pregnant woman on 17 December 2021, in Jackson, Mississippi. Photograph: Rogelio V Solis/AP

The Food and Drug Administration for the first time approved a test to detect preeclampsia, a leading cause of maternal death in the US.

Preeclampsia, a potentially life-threatening form of high blood pressure that can develop during pregnancy or after childbirth, disproportionately harms Black women in the US. The disease is linked to the recent death of Tori Bowie, an Olympic sprinter who was found dead in her home last month due to complications from childbirth.