The Importance of Blood Pressure in the First Half of Pregnancy

In Feb 2023, the USPSTF recommended that clinicians “screen for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy”. Specifically, they stated that “measuring blood pressure at each prenatal visit is the best approach”. Mind blowing I know. 😳😊 But sarcasm aside, a new publication- set to be released next month in AJOG (Slade LJ et al; Aug 2023)- validates this recommendation…not that it needed validation, for frequent BP monitoring during pregnancy. This has to do with the “sensitivity” of BP results in pregnancy compared to the “specificity”. Ahhh…intrigued? In this episode, we will review this upcoming publication aimed at evaluate whether the definition of gestational HTN should be revised according to the 2017 ACC and AHA criteria, and whether or not there is an association between adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes based on those lower BP levels. And as always, you’ll want to stay with us until the end of the episode as we pass on real world clinical implications of these findings.