Percent of antenatal care visits at which blood pressure was measured
Percent of antenatal care visits at which blood pressure was measured.
Number of antenatal care visits at which blood pressure was measured.
Total number of antenatal care visits.
Age, place of residence, socioeconomic status, type of facility.
Collected by delegated staff from available records.
See also: Percent of pregnant women whose blood pressure was checked at first ANC visit
Antenatal care registry or hand-held prenatal record (facility-specific)
This indicator measures whether ANC facilities are consistently measuring women’s blood pressure as early as possible in their pregnancies, and can serve as a proxy for the quality of ANC care. Women’s blood pressure should be monitored at each ANC visit and during delivery. A blood pressure measure early in pregnancy (ideally in the first trimester) can help distinguish whether women have chronic high blood pressure (or hypertension), which was present before pregnancy, or a pregnancy-induced hypertension which occurs after 20 weeks gestation, during labor, or within 48 hours of delivery (WHO, 2008). Women with chronic hypertension can benefit from treatment and continued monitoring during pregnancy. For women with pregnancy-induced hypertension after 20 weeks, their condition may progress from a mild hypertension to pre-eclampsia, then to the life-threatening condition of eclampsia. If pre-eclampsia is detected and appropriately managed before the onset of convulsions and other life-threatening complications, women’s risk of developing eclampsia can be reduced.
Data on whether women’s blood pressure was measured during an ANC visit, as taken from routine health records, will not include information for pregnancies occurring outside the public health sector, including home and private facility deliveries.
Safety of care, Process of Care, Antenatal care, Maternal health
World Health Organization (WHO). Education material for teachers of midwifery. Midwifery education modules - second edition. Managing eclampsia.; 2008. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/44145/5/9789241546669_5_eng.pdf
World Health Organization (WHO). Consultation on Improving Measurement of the Quality of Maternal, Newborn and Child Care in Health Facilities.; 2013. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/128206/1/9789241507417_eng.pdf
World Health Organization (WHO). 2015 Global Reference List of 100 Core Health Indicators.; 2015. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/173589/1/WHO_HIS_HSI_2015.3_eng.pdf
