Home Monitoring of hypertension in PregNancy (HaMPtoN)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Home monitoring of hypertension in pregnancy
IRAS ID
197444
Contact name
Asma Khalil
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
St George's University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 10 months, 31 days
Research summary
Women who have high blood pressure in pregnancy are advised to attend the Maternity Assessment Unit, twice weekly for blood pressure monitoring/urine testing. The purpose of these appointments is to monitor for development of pre-eclampsia, a potentially dangerous disease in pregnancy. However, the majority of these women (more than 80%) do not develop pre-eclampsia. This frequent monitoring and repeated hospital visits represent a source of anxiety to women and has significant cost implications for the families and the limited healthcare resources. These women may also undergo unnecessary medical intervention such as early delivery or prescribed antihypertensive drugs. We propose to evaluate a cost effective solution that will increase patient satisfaction, allowing women to monitor their health at home without unnecessary hospital attendance.
Women will be supplied with blood pressure monitors and urine dipsticks to take home. They will receive training and counselling by their midwife/doctor. They monitor their blood pressure twice a day and urine every 3 days, and record these data either in their handheld maternity notes (every pregnant woman is given a set of records at the booking visit to take home and bring to the appointments) or on a free app which can be downloaded on any smart phone. They will have follow-up appointments at the hospital/clinic every 1-2 weeks, depending on individual needs. The target audience will be women who have pre-existing hypertension, newly diagnosed hypertension or risk factors for developing hypertension in pregnancy. The main objective is to evaluate the implementation of home monitoring of hypertension in pregnancy care pathway. Secondary aims include assessment whether this approach enhances patient experience and satisfaction, eliminate long waiting times for hospital appointments, improves the quality of patient care by reducing unnecessary medical interventions and adverse pregnancy outcomes, is associated with cost savings to the pregnant women and to the NHS.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/NW/0206
Date of REC Opinion
27 Apr 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion