Beyond the bump: How managing blood pressure around pregnancy shapes your future health.
Audience: Public Format: OnlineThis talk will explore how pregnancy is a window into future health, giving an opportunity to improve long-term care and
Tuesday, 21 July 2026, 2pm to 3pm
Many women experience high blood pressure during pregnancy, and it is increasingly recognised as an early warning sign for health problems later in life. Conditions such as gestational hypertension and preeclampsia are known to increase a woman’s longer-term risk of stroke, heart disease and dementia.
Yet most women receive little follow-up once their baby is born. Recent studies by University of Oxford researchers have shown that, by monitoring and carefully managing their blood pressure after giving birth, new mothers could cut their risk of future heart disease and strokes – and protect their long‑term brain health.
The studies, supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Oxford, have led to the creation of a postpartum cardiac risk clinic in the Oxford Heart Centre.
This talk will explore how pregnancy is a window into future health, giving an opportunity to improve long-term care and help prevent future cardiovascular disease and cognitive decline in women. The speakers will also show how understanding why some women develop long-term complications while others
recover fully could lead to more personalised treatment.
Department: Medical Sciences (Division)
Host: Oxford Biomedical Research Centre
Register here: https://bit.ly/4vodCXI
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Dr Jamie Kitt is a Consultant Cardiologist in London and Oxford, and is conducting post-doctoral research into hypertensive pregnancy at the University of Oxford’s Radcliffe Department of Medicine.
Dr Winok Lapidaire is a Principal Investigator in Cardiovascular Medicine at the Radcliffe Department of Medicine. Her research focuses on the effect of high blood pressure on the brain, especially during and after pregnancy.