Target Audience

Southern Medical Journal (SMJ) is an interdisciplinary, multi-specialty Journal, and articles span the spectrum of medical topics, providing timely, up-to-date information for primary care physicians and specialists alike. The SMJ enables physicians to provide the best possible care to patients in this age of rapidly changing modern medicine.  Therefore, the readers of the SMJ are an appropriate target for this article.

Goals and Objectives

Maternal morbidity and mortality in the United States continue to rise, and hypertension remains a major contributor

to maternal deaths despite advances in healthcare. In addition, approximately 60% of pregnancy-related deaths from 2011 through 2015 were considered preventable. Pregnant non-Hispanic Black women have experienced the highest increase in pregnancy-related deaths in the last several years, with lack of access to care being a major contributor. Prompt recognition and treatment of hypertension in the peripartum period improves patient outcomes by decreasing the risks of maternal morbidity and mortality.

The goal of this study was to determine whether the introduction of hypertensive bundles through simulation and education would result in the timely assessment and treatment of a simulated patient in a peripartum hypertensive crisis. At the conclusion of the activity, learners should be better prepared to:

• Recognize that education in bundled peripartum hypertension care may improve patient outcomes by decreasing hypertension-related maternal morbidity and mortality;
• Recognize that the use of standardized, evidence-based protocols or bundles reduces adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Course Information

CME Release Date: February 3, 2022
Valid for credit through:  February 2, 2025
Course type: Journal CME/CE
Estimated time of completion: 1 hour

Credits Available

Southern Medical Association is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Southern Medical Association designates this Journal CME/CE activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

AAPA: AAPA accepts certificates of participation for educational activities certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by ACCME or a recognized state medical society. 

AANPCP: The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program (AANPCP) accepts AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by the ACCME.

Healthcare Professionals
For information on applicability and acceptance of continuing education credit for this activity, please consult your professional licensing board.  All healthcare professionals who are not MDs or DOs will receive a certificate of participation.

Instructions for Participation and Credit

This activity is designed to be completed within the time designated; learners should claim only those credits that reflect the time actually spent in the activity. To successfully earn credit, participants must complete the activity online during the valid credit period noted, following these steps:

• Read the goals and objectives, accreditation information, and author disclosures.
• Login in below to study the educational content and references.
• Complete the attestation, post-test (if applicable), and evaluation.

Upon successful completion of these components, your certificate will be processed and emailed from customerservice@sma.org within approximately 1 hour. Credits will be archived for 6 years; at any point within this time period you may login to your account to print a duplicate copy of your certificate.

Disclosure of Relevant Financial Relationships

Southern Medical Association (SMA) requires instructors, planners, managers, and all other individuals who are in a position to control the content of this activity to disclose conflicts of interest (COI) with ineligible entities within the last 24 months of the development of this activity. All identified COIs are thoroughly vetted and mitigated prior to the release of the activity. SMA is committed to providing its learners with high quality activities and related materials that promote improvements or quality in healthcare and not a specific proprietary business interest of a commercial interest.

The following individuals, unless otherwise noted, have no relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Manuscript Author(s):
Julie R. Whittington, MD, USN
Ann Marie Mercier, MD
Abigail M. Ramseyer, DO
Songthip Ounpraseuth, PhD
Everett F. Magann, MD 

Southern Medical Association/Southern Medical Journal Editorial Staff:
Steven T. Baldwin, MD, SMJ Editor-in-Chief
Jennifer S. Price, MA, Managing Editor
Anita McCabe, Copyeditor