BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
October 16, 2026 · via Europe PMC
Postpartum Blood Pressure After Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy and Subsequent Cardiovascular Disease: A Population-Based Cohort Study.
Korb D, Ramakrishnan R, Kwok ACH, Li Y, Carson C, Knight M
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
Fewer than half of women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy had a recorded blood pressure at 6 weeks postpartum, and lacking a record of normal pressure was linked to more cardiovascular disease. The results are cut off.
What was studied
Population-based cohort of 39,934 women with HDP in English primary and secondary care data linked to mortality (2000-2020), excluding 22,100 (55.3%) without a 6-week BP value, using weighted Cox regression for a composite of 12 CVDs.
Key findings
- The cardiovascular event rate was 109 per 10,000 person-years
- 55.3% had no BP recorded at 6 weeks postpartum
- Absence of a record of normal BP at 6 weeks was associated with increased subsequent CVD risk
Clinical relevance
The postpartum period is a window for preventive care, and routine blood pressure checks should be done and documented.
Who should care
Limitations
The results section is truncated so hazard ratios are not shown; routine data have missing and coding limitations; excluding women without BP values affects the cohort.
A recorded normal postpartum blood pressure was linked to lower later CVD risk, and many women did not have one.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
To assess the association between blood pressure values at 6 weeks postpartum and subsequent cardiovascular disease (CVD) over a 20-year period among women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP).
DESIGN
Population-based cohort study.
SETTING
English primary and secondary care data, linked to cause-specific mortality records from 2000 to 2020.
POPULATION
A cohort of 39 934 women between 15 and 49 years of age at birth who had HDP, were registered with a general practitioner (GP) contributing to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), and eligible for linkage to hospital episode statistics (HES) data were included. We excluded 22 100 (55.3%) women with no blood pressure values recorded at 6 weeks postpartum.
METHODS
Primary analysis included multivariable Cox regression modelling (weighted by the inverse probability of having a severe HDP).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Validated composite outcome of 12 cardiovascular diseases.
RESULTS
The rate for incident cardiovascular events was 109 per 10 000 person-years; 794 (68%) of them occurred in women aged < 40 years. Women with abnormal blood pressure at 6 weeks postpartum had a higher risk of subsequent CVD than women with normal blood pressure: 10.9% vs. 5.4% - adjusted hazard ratio 1.96 (95% CI 1.51-2.54).
CONCLUSIONS
Less than half of women with HDP had a blood pressure record in their GP notes at 6 weeks postpartum. The absence of a record of normal blood pressure at this time point was associated with an increased risk for subsequent CVD The immediate postpartum period may be a crucial window in preventive care to improve women's health.
DOI
10.1111/1471-0528.70341
PMID
42888852
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
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