Active clinical trials for "Pre-Eclampsia"

STEPUP is a 12-week randomized clinical trial among 126 postpartum women with pregnancies complicated by hypertensive disorders. Participants will be randomized to a control arm and receive a Fitbit or an intervention arm. The intervention arm will receive a Fitbit and set a step count goal, receive daily feedback via text about whether they reached their goal, and will be placed in virtual teams with other participants where they can win points for their team if they meet their daily goals. The main study outcomes will be increase in mean step count and change in psychosocial survey measures.

Primary objective: To investigate whether physical exercise prior to pregnancy in formerly preeclamptic women results in a comparable improvement of vascular and endothelial functioning as in women who had an uneventful pregnancy. Secondary objectives: Which cardiovascular and endothelial parameters are involved in the vascular adaptation to training in women with a history of preeclampsia. To study the vascular adaptation in the (next) pregnancy in women with a history of preeclampsia compared with women with a history of an uncomplicated pregnancy, after improvement of their physical condition by exercise training. This study is important in order to get a better understanding of the vascular and endothelial factors involved in preeclampsia and the effects of training on this profile. Results of this study can contribute to the improvement of preventing hypertensive complications in pregnancy and reduction of life time risk of cardiovascular disease in formerly preeclamptic women.

Pre-eclampsia is a disorder unique to pregnancy affecting both the mother and the fetus. Hypertension, proteinuria and edema are the most common and well-known maternal clinical symptoms. The incidence is approximately 6-8%. Pre-eclampsia is one of the leading causes of maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity associated with pregnancy throughout the world. The pathophysiology is unknown. At present, the most effective treatment is immediate delivery. The researchers' studies contributed to the demonstration that the vasodilator nitric oxide (NO) is important for correct placentation and that less nitric oxide (NO)- dependent vasodilation and an excess formation of reactive oxygen species explain poor placenta perfusion in pre-eclampsia. This reduced NO activity and increased oxidative stress in pre-eclamptic placenta is related to low bioavailability of L-arginine, the NO precursor. In this pilot study the researchers want to evaluate whether the administration of L-arginine to women with a clinical diagnosis of preeclampsia might restore physiological NO production in the placenta and ameliorate the pregnancy outcome.

The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of education and counseling program on healthy lifestyle behaviors, self-efficacy and maternal/neonatal consequences of pregnant women with risk of preeclampsia.

This project is being undertaken to test the hypothesis that implementing a community based package of care for women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy will result in overall improvement in maternal and neonatal outcomes. This is based on the premise that there are three main modifiable reasons why women (and their fetuses/newborns) die due to pregnancy complications: 1) delays by the woman herself in recognizing the seriousness of her condition; 2) delays in her being assessed and then transported to a center capable of providing effective and life-saving interventions; and 3) delays in the health facility in providing those interventions. The treatments for pre-eclampsia that are poorly accessed in LMIC are 1) magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) for prevention and treatment of the grand mal seizures of eclampsia; 2) oral antihypertensive medication to lower maternal BP to reduce the risk of stroke. The CLIP pilot and definitive cRCT will investigate whether the community level intervention including implementation of the CLIP package (oral antihypertensive therapy when indicated, intramuscular (i.m.) MgSO4 when indicated; and appropriate referral to an CEmOC facility when indicated) of care will reduce the incidence of all-cause maternal morbidity and mortality.

The purpose of the study is to help make a lower cost automatic blood pressure monitor device for diagnosis and monitoring of pre-eclampsia in pregnant women, where automatic blood pressure monitoring is limited or not available. The study will compare this low cost device to a commercially available system used for pre-eclamptic women in many United States hospitals that the investigators will be bringing to Malawi as a part of this study. The team hopes to show that this lower cost blood pressure machine works well and can help women with pre-eclampsia. The study also aims to see if this machine is easy for the nurse to use. 20 women who are either at-risk or diagnosed with pre-eclampsia will be enrolled at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital. First, a nurse will fit the test device cuff on one arm of the subject and the commercially available cuff on the opposite arm. A trained research assistant and the nurse will record the blood pressure measurements and document any alarm indications made by each device. Blood pressure measurements will continue until monitoring is no longer clinically prescribed. The results of this study will help researchers understand the performance and usability of this device in Malawi and help decide if any design changes are needed.

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) affect up to 10% of mother-infant dyads and account for 7.4% of cases of maternal mortality in the United States. Prompt recognition and treatment of hypertension remain one of the key features of management of mothers affected by these conditions. Up to 41% of severe morbidity and mortality from HDP occurs after 48 hours postpartum, as postpartum blood pressures tend to peak 3-6 days after birth. For these reasons, early postpartum follow-up is recommended for women diagnosed with HDP, in the form of blood pressure (BP) evaluation by a health care provider at 7-10 days postpartum (2-5 days post-discharge from maternity care). However, barriers to follow-up limit mothers' ability to adhere to this recommendation. A potential alternative to in-office evaluation is at-home BP monitoring. At-home BP monitoring is a novel, affordable method to empower, educate, and engage postpartum women affected by HDP. Within the obstetric (OB) population, pilot studies have demonstrated the feasibility and acceptability of remote BP monitoring. Hence, the purpose of this randomized trial is to empower postpartum women affected by HDP and cared for at North Carolina Women's Hospital to perform at-home BP monitoring with the aid of digital technology.

Excess weight or obesity is associated with an increased risk of health disorders: high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular risks, dyslipidemia and sleep apneas. During pregnancy in obese women, the risk of preeclampsia increases by three and the risk of fetal death in utero by five. Snoring and Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may be associated with increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, including maternal cardio pulmonary status, fetal heart rate and fetal acidosis-basis status by recurrent upper-airway obstruction, hypoventilation, and intermittent nocturnal hypoxia. Reports in pregnancy have identified in association with OSA and preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction and stillbirth. The prevalence of OSA among women is estimated to be 2-5%, but it remains underdiagnosed during pregnancy. In sleep apnea syndrome, a few data have shown better pregnancy and fetal outcome with the use continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. the hypothesis is in obese pregnant women that there could be a significant association between sleep apnea syndrome and hypertensive disorders, preeclampsia and adverse fetal outcomes This is a prospective study of Women with a body mass index of 35 kg.m2 or greater. The aim of this study is to determinate the prevalence of sleep apnea syndrome in obese pregnant women and the benefit of CPAP on the maternal and fetal outcome.

Raised blood pressure is a common problem in pregnancy. Raised blood pressure and pre-eclampsia affect about one in ten women and are a major cause of death and premature birth in the United Kingdom and worldwide. Many women have expressed an interest in monitoring their own blood pressure in between antenatal visits but there has been very little research to guide this. The investigators would like to know if the diagnosis and subsequent care of women with raised blood pressure can be improved if women were able to monitor their own blood pressure safely at home. This work will test whether optimising the diagnosis, monitoring and management of raised BP during pregnancy through self-monitoring of BP is effective, acceptable and cost-effective compared to usual care. The research team have being working with pregnant women, doctors and midwives to develop a simple and accurate method of self-monitoring of blood pressure in pregnancy. This randomised controlled trial will: Compare self-monitoring with usual care in women at higher risk of hypertension in pregnancy and assess if self-monitoring can identify raised blood pressure earlier. Compare self-monitoring with usual care for women with high blood pressure in pregnancy to see if it leads to lower blood pressure. Assess if self-monitoring is cost-effective. Pregnant women who chose to take part in these studies will be randomised to either usual care or asked to monitor their own blood pressure during their pregnancy in addition to their usual antenatal care.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of simulation training in nurses and midwives on knowledge and self-efficacy regarding preeclamptic pregnancy care. It is an important step in providing safe care to patients, as a learning environment is provided in which environmental risks are minimized with simulation applications. Simulation-based trainings are environments that allow each student to learn, equitable, based on adult learning principles, and open to different learning styles. The interests and needs in these environments are defined together by the learner and the educator. By keeping the experiences of the learner at the forefront, the opportunity is given to learn by doing and supported with feedback. Preeclampsia is clinically defined as a blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or above after the 20th week of pregnancy and the addition of proteinuria (300mg / 24 hours). It can develop in about 5-10% of all pregnancies. It is defined as a nulliparous disease since it is seen in approximately 85% of women during their first pregnancy. Preeclampsia constitutes 15% of the causes of maternal mortality in our country. In studies evaluating the effectiveness of simulation training in planning the follow-up and care of preeclampsia, it was determined that this method increases the knowledge and self-confidence of nurses. For example; Christian and Krumwiede's study they found that the self-efficacy rates were significantly higher in the post-simulation test. In his study, Olubumno investigated the importance of simulation in increasing the critical thinking of perinatology nurses in the care of preeclamptic pregnant women, he found that the pre-test and post-test scores increased by 0.75 points, and this difference between the scores is statistically significant. Tabatabaeian et al., In their study comparing the effects of simulation-based education, coeducation and theoretical education on the performance of midwives in preeclampsia and eclampsia, found that the mean of the simulation group was higher than the other two groups. Preeclampsia is an important obstetric emergency in women's health and disease nursing. Thus, when they start working in the clinic, it is aimed to be able to suspect preeclampsia with the anamnesis they received from the pregnant who applied to them, and to gain them with the simulation method what they should pay attention to and how to do in the follow-up of the pregnant woman hospitalized with the diagnosis of preeclampsia. Studies conducted in our country did not include studies involving students and healthcare professionals in the management of preeclampsia with simulation methods. Therefore, it is aimed to contribute to the literature with this study.