Pregnant women and new mothers in the United States die at a higher rate than anywhere else in the industrialized world. The Delaware health system offered a solution. According to Dr. Matthew Hoffman, Chief of Obstetrics at ChristianaCare, about 5% of pregnant women have high blood pressure already. Approximately one third of them will deliver prematurely or develop preeclampsia.
There is disagreement among doctors about giving blood pressure drugs early in pregnancy. “There was a competing camp that says if we lowered blood pressure, we would lower blood volume to the baby and cause the baby to be undergrown,” says Dr. Hoffman.
New research from 60 sites, including ChristianaCare, shows that treating a pregnant woman’s mild high blood pressure is not only safe, but it can also save her life. According to Dr Hoffman, pre-term births and preeclampsia at ChristianaCare are down.
