Remote blood pressure monitoring in high risk pregnancy – a randomised controlled trial (REMOTE CONTROL trial)

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Hypertension is one of the most common complications of pregnancy, affecting 2-10% of pregnant women. It is associated with adverse maternal and fetal outcomes, such as eclampsia, stroke, fetal growth restriction and stillbirth. Maternal mortality approaches 15% globally. Monitoring, early recognition and treatment are key to reducing severe complications and mortality. Traditionally in pregnancy, blood pressure (BP) is monitored routinely at outpatient visits. However, major recent events - the Australian bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic, limited social movement, and therefore initiated major change to antenatal healthcare delivery. There was widespread uptake of Telehealth services and home monitoring of BP. Patients are recording their own BP, directed by a healthcare professional on the frequency of monitoring, and given criteria as to when to attend the hospital. In non-pregnant populations, ambulatory and home BP measurements have been shown to have a closer association with long-term health effects, compared to clinic BP measurements. This is reflected in international guidelines, such as the American Heart Association, and the European Society of Hypertension guidelines, which emphasises the importance of BP self-monitoring. However, this practice is not validated in the pregnant population, and the effect on maternal and fetal outcomes has not been quantified. Our study is a multi-centre, cluster randomised controlled trial investigating antenatal home-based blood pressure monitoring when compared with usual care, through exploring maternal and perinatal outcomes, cost-effectiveness, compliance and qualitative patient satisfaction data. Home BP monitoring could provide more accurate data for clinicians to use in management strategies, thereby reducing poor fetal and maternal outcomes, and the burden of multiple clinic visits. Additionally, home-based monitoring would be useful in future events that would require our population to limit social movement, such as in bushfires and health pandemics.