Olivia TaylorWhen Today show co-host Sarah Abo appeared on screen on 24 July 2026, cradling her newborn son, the moment felt like a relief — for her, and for the Australian viewers who had watched her vanish from the breakfast desk weeks earlier than expected. Her baby had come a week early. She had spent almost two weeks in hospital. High blood pressure, she explained, had forced doctors to put her on immediate rest before her son's arrival. For millions of new and expectant mothers across Australia, Abo's story raises a question that too few medical conversations address directly: what happens to your blood pressure after you give birth?
Sarah Abo's Health Scare: The Story Behind the Headlines
Abo, 40, who co-hosts Channel Nine's Today show alongside Karl Stefanovic, had been due to start maternity leave in the usual lead-up window before her baby's arrival with husband Cyrus Moran. Instead, doctors stepped in early. She was hospitalised with elevated blood pressure, and her son — the couple has been calling him CJ — was born approximately a week ahead of schedule.
Describing the experience live on Today as "a bit of a bumpy ride," Abo was visibly emotional but well. Her son was healthy. The message she shared resonated far beyond celebrity news: pregnancy complications, even in a first-time mother who appeared fit and healthy on screen every morning, can escalate quickly and without much warning.
High blood pressure during pregnancy — known as gestational hypertension in its milder form, and preeclampsia when it involves additional complications — affects between 5 and 10 per cent of Australian pregnancies, according to the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne. But what many women do not know, and what Abo's case makes vivid, is that the blood pressure risk does not end when the baby is born. A related and potentially more dangerous condition can emerge in the hours, days, or even weeks that follow.
What Postpartum Hypertension Actually Is
Postpartum preeclampsia is a condition in which dangerous high blood pressure develops after childbirth. It is most common within the first 48 hours after delivery, but it can arise at any point up to six weeks postpartum — a period when most new mothers are at home, sleep-deprived, focused entirely on their newborn, and not monitoring their own vital signs at all.
The risk factors are not always the ones women expect. While a history of high blood pressure in pregnancy does elevate the risk, postpartum preeclampsia can strike women with completely normal blood pressure records throughout their entire pregnancy. First-time mothers, women over 35, those who delivered prematurely, and mothers of multiples are statistically more vulnerable — but the condition is not confined to any of these groups.
The mechanisms are not fully understood, but the postpartum period involves significant fluid shifts as the body attempts to return to its non-pregnant state. These shifts can drive blood pressure upward, sometimes dramatically, in the days after delivery. Australian hospitals typically monitor new mothers for 48 to 72 hours, but discharge often happens before the peak risk window closes — and the six-week postnatal check that follows is far too distant to catch a condition that can become life-threatening within 72 hours.
Warning signs documented by The Royal Women's Hospital Melbourne include:
- Severe headaches that do not respond to paracetamol
- Visual disturbances, including blurred vision, flashing lights, or spots
- Sudden swelling in the face, hands, or feet
- Pain in the upper abdomen, particularly beneath the ribs on the right-hand side
- Shortness of breath or chest pain
A blood pressure reading of 160 mmHg systolic or 110 mmHg diastolic, confirmed on two measurements taken at least 15 minutes apart, is classified as a hypertensive emergency. Without prompt treatment, postpartum preeclampsia can progress to eclampsia (seizures), HELLP syndrome — a life-threatening combination of haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelet counts — or stroke.
The Numbers That Should Send You to Emergency: A Concrete Scenario
Consider a 37-year-old first-time mother who delivers her daughter at a Melbourne public hospital after a straightforward labour. Her blood pressure was elevated at 32 weeks — a reading of 138/88 mmHg — but settled before delivery. She is discharged at 48 hours postpartum, told to rest at home and follow up at the six-week check. On day 4 at home, she wakes with a throbbing headache. By midday, her vision goes blurry and her hands feel noticeably puffier than the day before. She takes her blood pressure on the home monitor she bought during pregnancy: the reading is 162/108 mmHg.
Under Australian clinical guidelines, that single reading above 160/110 is a medical emergency. She needs to call 000 or be taken to an emergency department — not to wait for a GP appointment tomorrow, not to lie down and see if it passes.
If she delays by 12 hours, the window for medication to prevent escalation narrows significantly. If the reading had been 148/96 mmHg — below the emergency threshold but still elevated — a same-day call to her GP or midwife would be appropriate. A GP can prescribe labetalol or nifedipine, both first-line antihypertensive medications that are safe while breastfeeding, and arrange daily blood pressure checks either at home or in the clinic.
The cost of acting early is a phone call and possibly a prescription. The cost of acting late, at 160/110 and above, can be an ICU admission, an emergency caesarean in a subsequent pregnancy, or permanent cardiovascular damage. Research published in Australian clinical obstetrics literature confirms that postpartum hypertension that goes untreated past the first 48 hours at home is one of the leading contributors to preventable maternal morbidity in the postnatal period.
Who Is at Greatest Risk After Discharge
Not every new mother faces the same level of risk, but the gap between perceived risk and actual risk is often significant. Women who experienced any elevated blood pressure readings during pregnancy, as Abo did, should be considered elevated-risk during the postpartum period and ideally monitored daily for at least the first week after discharge.
Other high-risk indicators include:
- Preterm delivery (before 37 weeks gestation)
- First-time pregnancy
- Obesity or pre-existing metabolic conditions
- Age over 35
- Pregnancy via IVF or assisted reproduction
- Multiple pregnancy (twins, triplets)
That said, clinicians consistently report cases of postpartum preeclampsia in women who had none of these risk factors. The condition can emerge in a fit, healthy 28-year-old who had a textbook pregnancy and straightforward vaginal delivery.
This is why the Royal Women's Hospital advises that any new mother with a persistent headache in the postnatal period — regardless of whether she has a history of elevated blood pressure — should have her blood pressure checked the same day. Symptoms are often attributed to sleep deprivation and the ordinary chaos of new parenthood, which is exactly why they are so frequently missed.
What Australian Mothers Should Actually Do
If you have given birth in the past six weeks, the practical steps are straightforward:
Step 1: Buy or borrow a home blood pressure monitor. Pharmacies stock them from approximately $50. In the first two weeks postpartum, take a reading every morning and after any symptoms.
Step 2: Know your thresholds. A reading of 140/90 mmHg or above warrants a call to your GP, midwife, or the Pregnancy Birth and Baby helpline (1800 882 436) on the same day. A reading of 160/110 mmHg or above is an emergency — call 000.
Step 3: Do not dismiss headaches. A headache that does not resolve with two standard paracetamol tablets within two hours, in a postnatal woman, is a symptom that needs assessment — regardless of what your blood pressure monitor reads.
Step 4: Consider a postnatal GP review at one week rather than six weeks if you had any blood pressure elevation during pregnancy. A general practitioner can establish a monitoring plan and determine whether medication or specialist referral is appropriate.
Sarah Abo's candid account of a difficult final stretch of pregnancy is a reminder that postpartum health is still maternal health — and that the weeks after birth require the same attentiveness as the months before. A GP or maternal health specialist can make the difference between catching a rising blood pressure reading on day 4 and managing a preventable emergency on day 7.
This article contains general health information only. If you are experiencing symptoms of postpartum hypertension or any medical emergency, seek care immediately. Always consult a qualified health professional for personalised medical advice.
