At all of her prenatal appointments, the Houston mom’s blood pressure was normal. Her baby was a little small, but it wasn’t cause for alarm—she was planning to come back to the clinic in two weeks to keep an eye on it.
Days later, she was in the hospital with severely elevated blood pressure. She was diagnosed with preeclampsia, and in order to prevent the complication from hurting her and her baby, she delivered early. At only 29 weeks pregnant, she had to give birth over two months before her due date.
Dr. Cynthia Rios, the mom’s OBGYN, knew that it was a close call. “The neonatologist reached out to me, and he said, ‘If you guys would have waited two more weeks, she probably wouldn't have a baby.’”
Both mom and baby are now safe and healthy. This mom’s story underscores the importance of preventative preeclampsia care, and empowering parents to take their pregnancy care into their own hands through actions like daily blood pressure tracking.
If she had not been using Delfina Care, an intelligent pregnancy care app, this mom would never have been alerted that her blood pressure had entered a severe range that put her and her baby in danger.
Preeclampsia is a serious pregnancy complication that affects roughly 5-7% of pregnancies worldwide. It’s a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, which means that it’s a disorder related to high blood pressure. If left untreated, preeclampsia can cause fetal growth restriction, organ damage, or eclampsia—an onset of seizures that can harm both mom and baby.
Eclampsia can be deadly. Last summer, U.S. Olympian Tori Bowie passed away from complications of childbirth that may have included eclampsia.
If a patient has preeclampsia, the most effective treatment is to give birth. This is what happened to the Houston mom, and resulted in her baby being born preterm, which can come with its own set of complications. Because delivering early can be hazardous and traumatic, leading medical organizations emphasize the importance of preventing preeclampsia.
Solutions like Delfina Care use machine learning-optimized care to help predict and prevent preeclampsia.
“At Delfina, we are building predictive models that use electronic health record (EHR) and remote patient monitoring data to help identify patients that might benefit from these early interventions,” said Isabel Fulcher, PhD, Delfina’s Chief Scientific Officer. “With earlier application of evidence-based interventions, we can reduce the rates of preeclampsia and create healthier outcomes for moms and babies.”
Dr. Rios, the Houston OBGYN who treated the mother with preeclampsia during her pregnancy, had instructed the mom to track her blood pressure at home between appointments. Delfina supplies patients with connected blood pressure cuffs, which automatically input patient data into the Delfina app. When the mom’s blood pressure entered the severe range, Delfina notified her, and she immediately called Dr. Rios who made sure she got to the hospital.
Without the in-app blood pressure tracking and notification system, the patient’s severe high blood pressure would likely have gone unnoticed.
“She had no history of chronic hypertension. I mean, she hadn't gained a lot of weight. She wasn't your typical patient that I was looking for,” Dr. Rios said. “It was just we had her on Delfina.”
At Delfina, we're working to intervene in the maternal health crisis by getting intelligent pregnancy care to people who need it. Learn more at delfina.com.
