Differences in home blood pressure and pulse rates between singleton and twin pregnancies

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate home blood pressure (HBP) measurements during pregnancy and postpartum and investigate differences between singleton and twin pregnancies. METHODS: This prospective study involved normotensive, pregnant women who were planning to give birth at Saitama Medical Centre, Saitama, Japan between September 2013 and March 2017. HBP and pulse rate were measured twice daily and clinical blood pressure values were determined from patient records. RESULTS: HBP values were available from 101 participants; 69 women with singleton and 32 women with twin pregnancies. Systolic BP was statistically significantly higher in twin pregnancies from 23 weeks of gestation until 8 weeks after delivery compared with singleton pregnancies. Pulse rate was also statistically significantly higher between 11 and 30 weeks gestation in women with twin pregnancies compared with those with singleton pregnancies. CONCLUSIONS: BP monitoring is important in the management of twin pregnancies, especially during the later gestational weeks and postpartum period and HBP would facilitate this monitoring.