Issue link: http://accesshealth.uberflip.com/i/1543025
a cce s s H ea l t h N ews . n e t Fe b r u a ry 2 0 2 6 Volume 11 | Issue No. 104 4 aH Science Finally Catches Up With the Truth: 'Weathering' Harms Black Pregnant Women And Their Babies W eathering is the literal tearing down of the heart, arteries, and other systems in the body which causes them to become chronologically old at a younger age due to chronic stress. The term "weathering" was coined in 1992 by Arline T. Geronimus, SC. D., a professor in the School of Public Health and a research professor at the University of Michigan. She a ributed weathering to people of color and other groups who experienced historical marginalization — where poverty and/or discrimination are a common lived experience. Until recently, the phenomenon was discounted by many in the scientific and medical community. But scientific research is underscoring its truths. Weathering and chronic stress are two sides of the same coin. Chronic stress acts as an intentional culprit, releasing a flood of cortisol and adrenaline. This creates a fight-or-flight, or freeze, response that increases heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure, among other physiological functions. When the stressful situation is over, the body returns to normal. But if the stress is repeated, as in the case of racism, the body does not have the chance to return to the pre-stress state, and the fight, flight, or freeze becomes an ineffective coping mechanism that affects the body's major systems and organs. The weight associated with this trauma response is heavy. It serves as an allostatic load, causing wear and tear on the body that accumulates in response to repeated or chronic exposure to stress. Simply put, an allostatic load is a measure of the combined biological manifestations of chronic stress over the life course, which is directly linked to poor health. It is the physical impact of living in a constant fight-or-flight state, or as some have observed, the post-traumatic stress without the post. People who live in a constant state of duress due to unmet needs, racism, bias, discrimination, marginalization, are also pi ed against systems that don't see their value or humanity, weather. And according to Dr. Geronimus, this damage runs deep, happens at the cellular level, and leads to serious health problems over time. She says these weathering effects are directly correlated with why Black women who give birth in their 20s have more compli- cations than those who become mothers in their teens — which is the direct opposite for white pregnant women and birthing people. It's important to note that Black maternal mortality and morbidity aren't relegated to women living in poverty or covered through Medicaid. Black women with higher incomes endure the same physical effects of weathering because daily injustices and othering don't discriminate based on income. By Tonia Wright, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief