Pregnancy and Postpartum Hypertension Control Initiative

The Office on Women's Health (OWH) anticipates the availability of funding for an implementation and scaling project to build upon foundational work in managing hypertension by the HHS Hypertension Innovator Award (OWH), the Hypertension in Pregnancy Change Package (CDC), the National Hypertension Control Initiative (OMH, HRSA), the SMBP Forum and SMBP QI work (CDC), the CDC-supported National Hypertension Control Roundtable, and the HHS Federal Hypertension Control Leadership Council. The lessons generated from these endeavors will be deployed to achieve the current initiative’s primary aim to accelerate nation-wide implementation of SMBP (self-measured blood pressure) during pregnancy and postpartum. SMBP is a best practice defined as the regular measurement of blood pressure by the patient at home or other setting with clinical support. Based on a large body of evidence, SMBP is recommended in both national and international guidelines for the detection and control of HTN in adults and its use postpartum by AHRQ’s Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Management of Postpartum Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy.This initiative is intended to serve as the catalyst to drive towards making SMBP a common and routine practice during pregnancy and postpartum. With a special focus on underserved and rural communities, including maternity care deserts, the initiative seeks equitable detection and control of HTN, improved maternal and fetal outcomes, and reductions in admissions and morbidity from HTN-related complications.Applicants will need to demonstrate that they will be able to fully implement their projects within the first six months of the award. Recipients will be expected to evaluate processes and outcomes throughout the project to assess project effectiveness and impact over the period of performance.Over the course of the project, recipients will be expected to document and share project findings and results (e.g., data, best practices, lessons learned) with HHS and others interested in SMBP utilization during pregnancy and postpartum.We expect to fund awards in 12-month budget periods for a total period of performance up to 24 months. Recipients must submit a non-competing continuation (NCC) application for each budget period after the first. Continuation funding is contingent upon the availability of funds, satisfactory progress of the...

An independent review panel evaluates applications that pass the screening and meet the responsiveness criteria in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). These reviewers are experts in their fields, and are drawn from academic institutions, non-profit organizations, state and local government, and Federal government agencies. Based on the Application Review Criteria as outlined in the NOFO, the reviewers will comment on and rate the applications, focusing their comments and rating decisions on the identified criteria. In addition to the independent review panel, Federal staff will review each application for programmatic, budgetary, and grants management compliance.