Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in pregnancy.

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy remain a major cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. Diagnosis and management of these disorders has relied on conventional blood pressure measurement, a technique fraught with error and uncertainty. Ambulatory blood pressure measurement is a promising new technique that has the potential to overcome the inaccuracies of conventional blood pressure measurement. Several ambulatory blood pressure monitors have been validated in pregnant populations, and normal reference ranges have been established. More recent research has focused on the potential clinical roles of ambulatory blood pressure measurement in pregnancy. This review addresses the limitations of conventional blood pressure measurement and reviews the current literature on the application of ambulatory blood pressure measurement in pregnancy.