SNAP-HT

Raised blood pressure is common in pregnancy, affecting about one in ten women in the UK.

After pregnancy, women’s blood pressure generally remains elevated for a period of time and in most cases gradually returns to normal. Therefore during this period (normally between 2 and 12 weeks) medication will need to be gradually adjusted to achieve the correct blood pressure control.

Very high blood pressure can make you unwell, sometimes requiring hospitalization. It is important to take enough medication to keep your blood pressure under control, and to monitor it regularly to check that your blood pressure is within the correct range.

However, too much medication can make your blood pressure too low, and cause you to feel dizzy or faint. Therefore it is important to decrease or stop blood pressure medication (down-titration), at the correct time, as your blood pressure reduces.

The SNAP-HT project is a joint collaboration between Medical and Engineering Researchers from the University of Oxford that aims to automate the down-titration process whilst monitoring the patient's blood pressure in an efficient and safe way, to aid patients in self-management of this condition.