Maternal Hypertension Care

The Perinatal Center hosts the Maternal Hypertension Program, which is exclusively dedicated to treating expectant mothers  with hypertension (high blood pressure). Under the direction of David Chaffin, MD, the program offers patients access to state-of-the-art medical technology that helps monitor and control their hypertension. The Non-Invasive Cardiac System (NiCas), is used to measure cardiovascular status non-invasively on pregnant women.

"There are two types of high blood pressure. One is where there is too much blood flowing through the veins and one is where there is a blockage," Dr. Chaffin said. "This machine helps us tell what is causing the high blood pressure so we can use the right medication to treat the cause. It lets us see what we are doing to the cardiovascular system and allows us to be more aggressive in treating the high blood pressure."

"Without treatment, often the outcome for pregnant women with hypertension is an induced early delivery," Chaffin said. "Through early intervention, our goals are to prevent serious high blood pressure in the mothers and keep the baby in the womb longer," he said.

Candidates for referral to the center are pre-conceptual or pregnant patients who have diabetes, high blood pressure, renal disease, toxemia in their last pregnancy, or other cardiovascular related issues. The Maternal Hypertension Program accepts patients by doctor's referral only. For more information, please call 304.526.2124.