MADISON, Wis. – A UW Health and UnityPoint Health – Meriter program designed to monitor blood pressure during pregnancy and after birth to decrease health complications and hospital readmissions is expanding outside the hospital walls.
The program, called Staying Healthy After Childbirth, or STAC, is led by Dr. Kara Hoppe, a UW Health maternal-fetal medicine specialist and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health who treats high-risk pregnancies.
After childbirth, patients who qualify – defined as anyone with high blood pressure during pregnancy or after childbirth – are sent home with a blood pressure monitor. The monitor enables automatic transmission of results via cell phone to dedicated program nurses at Meriter. Blood pressure-lowering medication can be prescribed or adjusted, if needed, to keep blood pressure in a normal and healthy range for up to six weeks after delivery. This six-week window is a critical time to avoid complications or hospital readmission, according to Hoppe. The program can intervene earlier if there is high blood pressure detected during prenatal care.
The UW–Madison Prevention Research Center is one of 20 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded academic research centers in which researchers study how people and their communities can reduce risks for chronic illnesses. Leaders at the Prevention Research Center have been awarded a second cycle of grant funding to conduct community-engaged prevention research over the next five years and address maternal and child health disparities in Wisconsin.
Starting this fall, the center will adapt STAC as its Core Research Project. The goal is to increase patients’ access to remote pregnancy support and blood pressure care from locations outside the hospital, such as community-based organizations like doula organizations and public health departments.
Hoppe’s team has been researching the topic of hypertension in pregnancy since 2016. Beginning in 2019, STAC became the standard practice of care at Meriter, where UW Health doctors provide labor and delivery care. Annually, Meriter delivers approximately 5,000 babies. Since 2019, they have cared for more than 7,000 postpartum patients in the STAC program that delivered at Meriter.
This program has helped many patients and families because hypertension can cause serious risks, according to Hoppe.
“Hypertension, or high blood pressure, can lead to preterm births and preeclampsia, a high-blood pressure condition that threatens the lives of mothers and babies,” she said. “Severe hypertension after delivery can also lead to stroke. Now, we can identify the problem sooner and treat patients to keep them healthy.”
“We are looking forward to expanding our model outside the hospital and initiating access earlier, especially in the Black community,” she said.
In Wisconsin, Black women experience higher incidences of hypertension in pregnancy and face maternal mortality rates three to four times higher than non-Black women, according to Jill Denson, director of the UW–Madison Prevention Research Center.
The STAC program offers a promising evidence-based solution to address this racial health disparity and improve maternal and infant health outcomes for Black women and their families, she said.
“Expanding STAC to offer culturally adaptive outreach and intervention to diverse communities of Black women throughout the state will help reduce maternal mortality and morbidity in Wisconsin,” said Denson, who also holds a doctorate in public health with a specialization in community and behavioral health promotion. “We are expanding to partner with community advisory boards, community-based organizations, health care organizations and state programs so they can adapt, refine and implement STAC, and we can share our findings to inform communities, policy and future research.”
