US task force recommends expanding high blood pressure screenings during pregnancy

Everyone who is pregnant should be screened for disorders such as gestational hypertension and preeclampsia with blood pressure monitoring throughout the pregnancy, the US Preventive Services Task Force recommended Tuesday.

The recommendation, published in the medical journal JAMA, is for all pregnant people and particularly those without a “known diagnosis of a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy or chronic hypertension.”

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy often include chronic hypertension and gestational hypertension as well as preeclampsia and eclampsia, according to the USPSTF, a group of independent volunteer medical experts whose recommendations help guide doctors’ decisions.