How to treat preeclampsia in pregnant patients is outlined in guidelines from several medical organizations. How to continue to treat preeclampsia survivors in the medical setting after pregnancy is much less clear. This is important to establish because we now know that women with a history of preeclampsia have a higher chance for health complications in later life, like high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. This study reports the beginning results of a program the researchers created to deliver postpartum care for preeclampsia survivors called the “Woman’s Care Program after Preeclampsia” in Nantes, France. The researchers report the results from 134 women in the program so far, who all had a recent history of preeclampsia and were within a year of delivery. In this program, the preeclampsia survivors’ health was checked within one year of delivery, including measuring and monitoring risk factors for heart disease, while the program also taught the survivors to make heart healthy lifestyle changes. From the first group of survivors in the program, the researchers were able to identify 28 cases of high blood pressure (20.9%) and 34 cases of obesity (25.3%). Risk factors for high blood pressure after preeclampsia were age (average age of 35 years), being from sub-Saharan Africa, and having had more than one child. The researchers highlight that their program allowed for early detection and treatment of risk factors to help slow down or stop cardiovascular disease before it develops in preeclampsia survivors. It is crucial to the future health of survivors that programs like these are created and tested to make sure that a history of preeclampsia becomes only a warning sign for future disease and a chance to change our health behaviors.
Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33485699/
Each quarter, our team of researchers reviews the most current studies related to hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and selects those studies they feel will be of greatest interest to our community to summarize.
Special thanks to our volunteer research team, who under the leadership of Dr. Elizabeth Sutton, make Research Roundup possible: Alisse Hauspurg, MD Felicia LeMoine, MD Jenny Sones, PhD, DVM, and Robin Trupp, PhD, RN.
Your story is needed to improve outcomes for moms like you. Add your voice to critical preeclampsia research to ensure that every story is heard.
Frequently asked questions about the Preeclampsia Registry, a patient-driven registry and biobank.
The Preeclampsia Foundation offers research funding, study recruitment, and other patient engagement services to researchers.
We provide research grant funding to advance progress towards detection, prevention, or treatment of preeclampsia, HELLP syndrome, and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
The Preeclampsia Foundation announced today the recipient of its 2024 Peter Joseph Pappas Research Grants at the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine 44th Annual Pregnancy Meeting. Based on the recomme...
Preeclampsia Foundation announced today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s (SMFM) 44th Annual Meeting – The Pregnancy Meeting™ – that applications are now being accep...
Preeclampsia Foundation Canada has announced that Kylie Belchamber, PhD of University of Birmingham, and Serena Gundy, MD, FRCP of McMaster University, are their 2023 Vision Grant research award recip...
Amit Zeisel, PhD and Ido Solt, MD and their research team at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and Rambam Hospital, together with Prof. Simcha Yagel, MD of Hadassa Hospital, have pub...
Comparative effectiveness of prophylactic strategies for preeclampsia: a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials Finding strategies for preventing preeclampsia is a top priority in...