Funding outcome

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, which affect approximately 10% of pregnancies, are the leading cause of direct maternal deaths in Canada and the most common medical complication of pregnancy. It is important to detect hypertensive disorders of pregnancy as early intervention and monitoring can help to reduce both maternal and fetal health risks. Regular blood pressure (BP) monitoring is required to diagnose hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Although this is most often performed during office visits, which typically occur monthly during the first two trimesters, intermittent office BP measurement can delay detection of elevated BP. Home blood pressure monitoring can also be used during pregnancy for detection and monitoring of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Despite the use of home BP monitoring in pregnancy, threshold BP values that differentiate between those women that will have and won't have complications are not known. We plan to use home blood pressure monitoring through an app that our research group has developed to determine the threshold level of home blood pressure that may predict pregnancy complications. We hope that finding this threshold will provide early detection and allow for early intervention that may prevent or minimize risks to pregnant women and their babies.