Overview

This guideline covers diagnosing and managing hypertension (high blood pressure), including pre-eclampsia, during pregnancy, labour and birth. It also includes advice for women with hypertension who wish to conceive and women who have had a pregnancy complicated by hypertension. It aims to improve care during pregnancy, labour and birth for women and their babies.

We've created a series of visual summaries to explain assessment, treatment and other aspects of care for various conditions relating to hypertension in pregnancy. These are available to download from tools and resources.

Who is it for?

• Healthcare professionals
• Women who develop hypertension during pregnancy, who have hypertension and wish to conceive, and who have had a pregnancy complicated by hypertension, and their relatives and carers

Recommendations

People have the right to be involved in discussions and make informed decisions about their care, as described in NICE's information on making decisions about your care.

Making decisions using NICE guidelines explains how we use words to show the strength (or certainty) of our recommendations, and has information about prescribing medicines (including off-label use), professional guidelines, standards and laws (including on consent and mental capacity), and safeguarding.