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Amsterdam, Women with high blood pressure caused by pre-eclampsia during pregnancy may go on to have lingering high blood pressure after birth that doesn't show up in a typical test in a clinic, according to Dutch research.
It found high blood pressure "often goes unnoticed because women may have normal blood pressure readings" in the doctor's surgery
The Dutch study of 200 women found 17.5% had masked hypertension. Their blood pressure was much higher when it was monitored at home.
The study found if only the in-clinic readings were used, doctors would have missed 56% of the women with high blood pressure, and 46% of the women had an insufficient decrease in blood pressure from daytime to night time, which is unhealthy. Night-time hypertension, which increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and death, affected 42.5% of women in the study.
Study author Laura Benschop, MD, a researcher in obstetrics and gynaecology at Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, said , "Our findings suggest women who have high blood pressure during pregnancy should continue to monitor their blood pressure long after they've delivered their babies. It's not only important to monitor blood pressure in the doctor's office, but also at different times of the day and night, at home".
"We've shown here that high blood pressure comes in many forms after pregnancy. Women who know their numbers can take the proper steps to lower their blood pressure and avoid the health consequences of high blood pressure later in life," she added.
