Late-Onset Postpartum Hypertension After Normotensive Pregnancy

To better inform efforts to improve and extend postpartum care, we sought to estimate the incidence of de novo hypertension up to 6 months postpartum in patients without evidence of hypertension during pregnancy or immediately postpartum. This retrospective cohort study included all patients delivering within an academic health care system. All blood pressure (BP) measurements from fertilization to 6 months postpartum were obtained from the electronic medical record and used to identify patients who remained normotensive throughout pregnancy and in the first 6 weeks postpartum. By 6 months postpartum, nearly one-fifth of this large, previously normotensive cohort had developed BP abnormalities per American College of Cardiology-American Heart Association criteria. These findings underscore the importance of optimizing the transition from obstetrics to primary care in the postpartum period.