A Mobile Health Approach for Monitoring Hypertensive and Mental Health Conditions to Avoid Preventable Delays in Postpartum Care

The postpartum period presents a critical window for maternal health, yet it is often characterized by limited clinical follow-up. This study evaluated the feasibility of implementing a mobile health (mHealth) system for remote monitoring of Blood Pressure (BP) and mental health among postpartum individuals. A total of 98 postpartum participants were enrolled, of whom 60 with complete and verifiable data were monitored for up to 12 weeks via the MOYO-Mom platform, with all participants self-identified as African Americans. In addition to evaluating user engagement and adherence to the study protocol, associations were examined between depressive symptoms, measured by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and key variables including BP, age, and Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy (HDP). Of the enrolled cohort, 45 participants contributed 727 valid home BP measurements and 44 completed the EPDS at least once, providing longitudinal physiological and mental-health data for analysis.

Findings from this study indicate that lower systolic BP was significantly associated with higher EPDS scores ( p < 0.001), suggesting a physiological link to postpartum depression. Additionally, individuals with higher depression scores and those diagnosed with HDP demonstrated lower engagement with the mHealth platform. In contrast, younger participants showed higher adherence to the study protocol. These results—grounded in participant-level data from 423 BP readings and EPDS assessments—support the feasibility of mHealth-enabled postpartum monitoring while highlighting differential engagement across risk profiles. These findings highlight the potential of mHealth tools for postpartum care and underscore the importance of designing targeted strategies to enhance engagement,