Overview
The purpose of this study is to assess which blood pressure medication (intravenous labetalol or oral nifedipine) works better in treating severely elevated blood pressure in women who have just delivered a baby.
Description
Hypertensive emergencies cause significant maternal morbidity and mortality in the postpartum period. In order to reduced these risks, the recommendation is to treat women with severe range blood pressure with either intravenous labetalol or oral nifedipine; it is unclear which medication is superior. The objective of this study is to prospectively enroll women who have hypertensive emergencies in the postpartum period; women will be randomized in a 1:1 fashion and treated with one of the two antihypertensives to see which one works better.
Eligibility
Inclusion criteria
- Patients admitted to labor and delivery (L&D) with blood pressure (BP) in severe range, defined as a systolic ≥160 mm Hg and/or diastolic ≥110 mm Hg
- Postpartum, immediately to 6 weeks postpartum
- With a prior diagnosis of chronic hypertension (not on medication) or hypertensive disorder of pregnancy
Exclusion criteria
- They may not have previously had exposure to either study medication within the previous 24-hour period.
- Patients with a known atrial-ventricular heart block or moderate to severe bronchial asthma will be excluded, or other contraindication to receiving either study medication