Mindfulness to prevent high blood pressure during pregnancy
Official title: Mechanisms of mindfulness training to prevent hypertensive disorders of pregnancy
Funded at Miriam Hospital · NIH-11128645 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project offers prenatal mindfulness training to pregnant people at risk for pregnancy-related high blood pressure to help lower blood pressure and support heart health.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Miriam Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Providence, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2021 |
| Project end | June 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $423,198 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HL157288-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11128645 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Pregnant people aged 21 and older who are identified as being at higher risk for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People who are not pregnant or those with severe, established hypertension requiring immediate medical treatment may not benefit from mindfulness alone.
What this research studies
If you join, you'll be enrolled during pregnancy and taught mindfulness skills through group classes and digital tools. The team will monitor your blood pressure with ambulatory devices and may collect biological samples and fetal growth data to understand how mindfulness affects your body and your baby. Some parts of the study use an Android app and wearable sensors so stress and blood pressure can be tracked over time. Researchers will compare results to a control group to see whether the mindfulness program changes markers linked to pregnancy-related high blood pressure.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the program could lower the chance of pregnancy-related high blood pressure and improve short- and long-term cardiovascular health for mothers and their infants.
How similar studies have gone: Mindfulness programs have lowered blood pressure in non-pregnant adults and a pilot prenatal randomized trial showed medium-to-large effects on maternal cardiovascular measures, but using mindfulness specifically to prevent hypertensive disorders in at-risk pregnancies is still relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Miriam Hospital
Providence, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Bublitz, Margaret — Miriam Hospital
- Study coordinator: Bublitz, Margaret
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.