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PRE-ECLAMPSIA & HYPERTENSIVE PREGNANCY

29-77% of high blood pressure in pregnancy is white coat hypertension, with normal blood pressure at home and elevated pressure in the exam room.^1,2

In one study, women with white coat hypertension had the same outcomes as normotensives except for one key measure: the white coat patients had nearly four times as many cesarean sections as the normotensives.² Pregnant women with white coat hypertension may be prescribed unnecessary antihypertensive medication that increases their risk of low birth weight babies.³

Telemonitoring enables physicians and case managers to review daily home blood pressures from pregnant women with pre-eclampsia or hypertension. Blood pressure telemonitoring has been shown to reduce home nursing visits, use of antihypertensive medication, office visits and ante-natal hospitalization.⁴ By avoiding drug therapy for pregnant white coat hypertensives, telemonitoring reduces the risk of unnecessary cesarean sections and low birthweight babies.

“In pregnancy, telemetry to monitor blood pressure at home is a safe alternative to repeated office visits or even hospitalization to confirm the diagnosis of hypertension. It seems efficient to avoid false hypertension and unnecessary hospitalization…This technique [telemonitoring] offers great promise, both in terms of health economics and also in terms of reducing pregnant women's unhappiness about their being admitted to the hospital whenever they exhibit moderate to severe hypertension in the antenatal clinic. Indeed, in the antenatal period, home telemetry should allow the vast majority of hypertensive pregnancies to be managed just as safely at home as in the hospital.” ⁵

1 DeNolle T et al. Home Blood Pressure Measured Telemetrically in Hypertensive Pregnant Women. J Hypertens 1999;17 (Suppl 3)
2 Bellomo G et al. Prognostic Value of 24-hour Blood Pressure in Pregnancy. JAMA 1999;282:1447.
3 Von Dedelszen P et al. Fall in Mean Arterial Pressure and Fetal Growth Restriction in Pregnancy Hypertension: A Meta-Analysis. Lancet 2000;355:87.
4 Rayburn W et al. Portable Blood Pressure Monitoring for Borderline or Mild Hypertension During Pregnancy. Clin Obstet & Gynecol 1992;35(2):395-401
5 Dalton KJ, et al. Computerized Home Telemetry of Maternal Blood Pressure in Hypertensive Pregnancy. Int J Biomed Comput 1987; 21(3-4).