Learning to Evaluate Blood Pressure at Home (LEANBH)

The COVID-19 pandemic exposes our front-line staff to unnecessary risks in interacting with COVID-19 affected patients. Current care of pregnant women who have uncontrolled/unmonitored hypertension involves multiple visits to obstetric units for blood pressure checks. These visits put the women at risk of contracting or transmitting SARS-CoV-2 by bringing them into hospitals for checks which could otherwise be done remotely. Up to 20% of pregnant women will experience a hypertensive episode during pregnancy or the postpartum period. Uncontrolled or unmonitored hypertension in pregnancy may be associated with significant maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality including pre-eclampsia, stroke and stillbirth. The current management of suspected hypertension in pregnancy involves prolonged admission to hospital for BP monitoring or multiple visits to day assessment units or primary care physicians. All of these increase the risk of contracting or transmitting SARS-CoV-2. In addition, pregnant women with COVID-19 who are receiving inpatient care also require regular BP monitoring increasing the exposure risk for staff of contracting SARS-CoV-2. Pregnant women not attending GPs or hospitals for BP monitoring out of fear of contracting COVID-19 drastically increase their risk of suffering adverse effects from undiagnosed or uncontrolled hypertension. The ideal solution would be to facilitate inpatient or outpatient monitoring with reduced face to face contact between staff and infected patients. This would ensure a safer experience for all by reducing the risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 while safely offering remote BP monitoring. LEANBH offers this safe alternative to direct hospital contact for pregnant women and staff by providing ambulatory automated self BP monitoring using the LEANBH integrated platform. This proposal will deliver immediate ambulatory BP self-monitoring performed remotely without need for direct physical contact, minimising risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 for staff and pregnant women.