All women should be educated after childbirth about high blood pressure

After childbirth, it is not uncommon for women to experience high blood pressure. If not treated, it can have serious consequences, including stroke and, in some cases, death. It is unclear what causes high blood pressure after childbirth, or who may develop it.

In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s (SMFM) annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting, researchers will unveil findings that suggest all women, regardless of whether they have a history of high blood pressure, need to be educated about the signs and symptoms of high blood pressure, also known as postpartum hypertension.

The study looked at 164 women from September 2016 to July 2019 who gave birth at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston and were readmitted with high blood pressure. The majority of women (64.6%) were readmitted within seven days, and 39 percent of those women were not diagnosed with high blood pressure prior to being discharged.

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