Abstract
Objectives Gestational hypertension affects 10% of pregnancies, may occur without warning and has wide ranging effects on maternal, fetal and infant health. Antenatal care largely relies on in-person appointments, hence only < 4% of the pregnancy period is subject to routine clinical monitoring.
Home monitoring offers a unique opportunity to collect granular data and identify trends that could predict pregnancy compromise. Here, we discuss the feasibility of remote multi-domain monitoring of maternal cardiovascular health.
Methods Feasibility analysis of continuous remote monitoring of multiple indicators of cardiovascular health from the first trimester to 6 weeks' postpartum. Results 24 pregnant women were asked to monitor body weight, heart rate, blood pressure and activity levels daily.
Study participants took on average 4.3 (SD = 2.20) home recordings of each modality per week across the three trimesters and 2.0 post-partum (SD = 2.41), out of a recommended maximum of 7. Participant retention was 58.3%.
Wearing a smartwatch daily was reported as feasible (8.6/10, SD = 2.3) and data could be entered digitally with ease (7.7/10, SD = 2.4). Conclusions Remote digital monitoring of cardiovascular health is feasible for research purposes and hence potentially so for routine clinical care. 58% of women completed the study.
Multiple modalities indicative of cardiovascular health can be measured in parallel, giving a global view that is representative of the whole pregnancy period in a way that current antenatal care is not.