Moving towards Justice: Reducing Encounters of Preeclampsia in Adolescent Maternal Health

Using data from the Nulliparous Pregnancy Outcomes Study: Monitoring Mothers-to-Be (nuMoM2b), several relationships were explored between nutrition and diet, likely attributed to education, culture, training, and habits around food. While these factors remain relevant and worth pursuing, data analysis implied that the most significant issue remaining is access to healthcare. Across race, age, and nutrition consumption, if pregnant people make higher incomes—inferring better access to healthcare and higher-quality nutrients, then their risk of preeclampsia is reduced. Accordingly, this paper performs an extensive literature review of the intersection of extreme maternal age and nutrient intake as a significant factor for preeclampsia. Given the current gap in literature around adolescent pregnancy and preeclampsia, special focus is given to birthing people between 10 and 19 years of age. Quantitative machine learning analysis of the nuMoM2b dataset and qualitative analysis of ethnographic findings from the NMHRN October 2020 conference are used to inform policy proposals that benefit adolescent birthing people, birthing people experiencing preeclampsia, and birthing people negatively impacted by the current healthcare system.