A Pharmacist Intervention to Improve Mother and Child Health

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a research pharmacist can improve the health of new mothers and their babies. The main questions it aims to answer are: Will postpartum women who had elevated blood pressure during pregnancy be willing to participate in the study, talk to a pharmacist about their health and the health of their child, and text us their blood pressure measurements? Will contact with the pharmacist improve the health of the mother and/or the child? Participants will: complete a baseline demographic survey, be given a blood pressure cuff and taught how to use it, be asked to text us their blood pressure values 2 times per day for 7 days after enrollment, complete a phone call with a pharmacist discussing their health and the health of their baby, text us their blood pressure 1 time per day for 3 days 1 month after enrollment, have a 1 month follow-up phone call with the research pharmacist, and complete an exit survey to provide feedback about the study.

The pharmacist will help the mother find a primary care physician if she doesn't have one, obtain health insurance if she doesn't have any, and discuss any health-related information about herself or her child, as needed. These pharmacist interactions will occur 7 days after baseline and again 1 month later (the participant will be asked to measure and text their blood pressure again 1 time per day for 3 days during the follow-up month). If the participant's blood pressures become elevated, the pharmacist will provide behavioral and lifestyle interventions to attempt to lower the blood pressure. They may also recommend medications to the participant's physician. The pharmacist will have access to the participant's electronic medical record to obtain any blood pressure-related medications that the mother is prescribed as well as throughout the follow up to ensure any health-related conditions can be discussed, as necessary.

The goal of this intervention is to determine if contact with the research pharmacist will improve the health of the mother and/or child.

We will calculate the number of participants who talk to the research pharmacist during the course of the intervention.

We will calculate the number of participants who return blood pressure measurements via text message.

Inclusion Criteria: biological mother of a baby attending a 1-week to 4-month well-child visit, received prenatal care at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, had at least 2 elevated blood pressures (>= 140 mmHg systolic or >= 90 mmHg diastolic) during pregnancy, owns a smartphone Exclusion Criteria: arm circumference > 17 inches, prisoner status unable to provide own written informed consent