Birmingham, Alabama – The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has been granted $19 million for a comprehensive study on the relation of hypertension and pregnancy.
The UAB has been granted a total of $19.3 million by the National Institutes of Health. The R01 grant was awarded to the UAB’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and to the Department of Biostatistics. The funding will be dedicated to study the connection or relation of chronic hypertension and pregnancy.
Pregnant women always need urgent care, including regular visits to urgent care clinics in order to regulate, monitor, and maintain not only their overall health, but also their unborn child’s well-being.
Thus, the study called “Chronic Hypertension and Pregnancy Project” will be launched as a multicenter, randomized trial. The project will involve up to 5,700 expecting mothers, enrolling them randomly to the study within the next six years. The researchers will determine and evaluate the benefits of pharmacological hypertension treatment in pregnancy. They will also assess any harm that could arise from the same treatment.
Throughout the study, the experts will gather samples so as to identify the underlying mechanisms which cause adverse effects. Doctor Alan Tita, UAB Obstetrics and Gynecology professor said the cause of adverse effects of pharmacological hypertension treatment in pregnancy has been an unresolved issue for a long time now. This issue has triggered the concern of a lot of health care providers, researchers, and the entire obstetric department.
Dr. Tita emphasized that chronic hypertension could cause serious health problems, even life-threatening complications. This is more so when it comes to pregnant women and their unborn child. The health professor pointed out the lack of management of the said condition during pregnancy.
Expecting mothers should be given a sort of an urgent care near me, assuring their overall health and their babies. Helping them administer and maintain their health during their pregnancy will lead to healthy babies. Pregnant women should be properly educated on how they could manage their pregnancy, while avoiding health complications at the same time. They must also visit an urgent care clinic immediately when any health issues arise. This would help them in preventing the onset of any disease that could badly affect their pregnancy and their unborn child.
The UAB researchers said chronic hypertension has been the most common condition that pregnant women usually encounter, occurring in six percent of expecting mothers within the United States alone. The Chronic Hypertension and Pregnancy Project will encompass 30 hospitals across the country, including 16 academic, clinical centers.
