UPMC Magee (Credit: UPMC)
Women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (both preeclampsia and gestational hypertension) often continue to have high blood pressure after delivery, which can increase the risk of seizures, strokes and even maternal death in the postpartum period.
THE PROBLEM
UPMC and University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences knew that understanding the trajectory of blood pressure decline after a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy might be important to preventing these complications.
Prior work has relied on women coming into the office for a blood pressure check to determine how high blood pressure resolves in the postpartum period.