Quality standard

This quality standard covers diagnosing and managing hypertension (high blood pressure) and pre-eclampsia during pregnancy, labour and birth. It also covers advice for women with hypertension who may become pregnant and postnatal care for women who have had hypertension or pre-eclampsia. It describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement.

NICE has also published quality standards on antenatal care, intrapartum care and postnatal care.

In July 2019, this quality standard was updated to reflect changes to the updated NICE guideline on hypertension in pregnancy. Statements 2, 3, 5 and 6 were amended and links and references to source guidance have been updated.

How to use NICE quality standards and how we develop them

Quality standards help you improve the quality of care you provide or commission. They apply in England and Wales (see the UK government website and Welsh government website). Decisions on how they apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland are made by ministers in the Scottish government and Northern Ireland Executive.

Find out how to use quality standards and how we develop them. We check our quality standards every August to make sure they are up to date.