Hoppe earns UPH-Meriter grant to expand Staying Healthy After Childbirth program

Kara Hoppe, DO, MS, associate professor in the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, was recently awarded a grant from the UnityPoint Health-Meriter Foundation to expand the Staying Healthy After Childbirth program!

Hoppe’s original program, Staying Healthy After Childbirth (STAC), is a six-week postpartum home blood pressure monitoring program with demonstrated success in improving postpartum care for postpartum hypertension through identifying increasing blood pressures early, initiating outpatient treatment, and avoiding readmission. 

The one-year grant for Staying Healthy After Childbirth - My Hypertension Education and Reaching Target program for postpartum – (STAC-MyHEARTp) will pilot a health coaching and home blood pressure monitoring program for one year postpartum. The program aims to:

• Improve postpartum attendance for 12-month hypertension follow-up care among Staying Healthy After Childbirth patients who have chronic hypertension or persistent hypertension at 6-weeks postpartum.
• Improve blood pressure control at 12 months in postpartum patients with chronic hypertension or a hypertension disorder of pregnancy with persistent hypertension at six weeks postpartum.
• Increase lifestyle modification behaviors and health outcomes relating to nutrition and physical activity and cardiovascular disease prevention in postpartum patients with chronic hypertension or a hypertension disorder of pregnancy with persistent hypertension at six weeks postpartum.

Congratulations, Dr. Hoppe!