Methodist’s maternal-fetal medicine team earns prestigious research award, paves the way for better postpartum outcomes nationwide

What started out as a quality improvement project a few years ago might just be a “practice-changing” study, said Methodist maternal-fetal medicine specialist Todd Lovgren, MD – the first of its kind in the world, he added.

When a handful of women were getting readmitted to Methodist Women’s Hospital for hypertension after delivery, Dr. Lovgren and his colleagues took a closer look at moms with high blood pressure who were prescribed medication at the time of discharge to see if they had lower rates of readmission compared to moms with high blood pressure who left the hospital unmedicated.

“We were a little surprised to learn that being on medication didn’t make much of a difference,” he said. “That didn’t make sense to us.”

So, Dr. Lovgren wondered, what if the two most commonly prescribed drugs for postpartum hypertension – labetalol and nifedipine – aren’t the same?

And a clinical research study was born. 

The randomized controlled trial was funded by Methodist Hospital Foundation and conducted by Dr. Lovgren; Methodist maternal-fetal medicine specialist Joshua Dahlke, MD; and a specialized group of nurses – Teresa Minarich, BSN, RNC-EFM; Alex Fadell, BSN, RNC-EFM; and Jodi Gute, MSN, APRN-CNS, RNC-OB, C-EFM. The trial was open-label, meaning enrolled patients knew which of the two medications – labetalol or nifedipine – they were being prescribed and that one may be more effective than the other. 

The finding? Nifedipine actually reduced the readmission rate of those assigned to the medication by 88%.

Dr. Lovgren and his team of researchers were recently honored with the 2025 Norman F. Gant Award for Best Research in Maternal Medicine at the annual Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Pregnancy Meeting in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Lovgren firmly believes that his team’s efforts will soon change – if not, are already changing – the standard of care for postpartum hypertension.

“Seeing all the data about how poor maternal care is in our country, our group is just not content to sit idly by and simply practice day-to-day. I think we provide such amazing care that we need to find ways to share what we do with others to make sure we really are providing the best care possible for all moms.”


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