Postpartum Hypertension Control Made Simple And Sustainable

Introduction

Postpartum hypertension is a major cause of prolonged hospital stay and readmission. Associated polypharmacy, wasted medicines, multiple blood tests, separation from family and implications for cardiovascular health have long-term and widespread impacts. As part of the RCOG Green Maternity Challenge we designed a sustainable quality improvement project aimed at reducing the economic and environmental costs of postpartum hypertension.

 

Objective

This quality improvement project sought to combat the associated clinical, economic, environmental and social impacts of postpartum hypertension through a change in prescribing and clinical practice. Through selecting nifedipine as a first-line antihypertensive agent alongside a new streamlined clinical guideline we aimed to demonstrate an improvement in environmental, economic and social costs over a 16 week study period.