Rising Hypertension Rates During Pregnancy and Evidence in Practice

In the ACOG practice bulletin 203, the ACOG states that, “Traditionally, the diagnosis of hypertension (HTN) in pregnancy has been 140/90, on 2 occasions at least 4 hrs apart“. The keyword there is… “Traditionally”. In 2017, the ACC/AHA redefined hypertension with Stage I HTN being 130/80. Do some societies recommend the use of this lowered blood pressure criteria in pregnancy? It’s a complicated answer. Does aspirin help prevent preeclampsia in women with Stage I (130/80) hypertension? The answer may surprise you! In this episode, we will do a deep dive into ACOG PB 203, the ACOG practice advisory from 2022 in response to the CHAP trial, and discuss the CLIP 2021 published data. This is a story of CHIP, CHAP, and CLIP… And we will give clear clinical implications of each in this episode!