Hypertensive emergencies cause significant maternal morbidity and mortality in the postpartum period. In order to reduced these risks, the recommendation is to treat women with severe range blood pressure with either intravenous labetalol or oral nifedipine; it is unclear which medication is superior. The objective of this study is to prospectively enroll women who have hypertensive emergencies in the postpartum period; women will be randomized in a 1:1 fashion and treated with one of the two antihypertensives to see which one works better.
The purpose of this study is to assess which blood pressure medication (intravenous labetalol or oral nifedipine) works better in treating severely elevated blood pressure in women who have just delivered a baby.