Elevated static pressure and pregnancy well-being.

Static pressure is defined as the pressure existing at all points in the circulation when the heart is stopped and is a determinant of cardiac output and blood pressure. By using the proposed relationship that static pressure = cardiac output X "resistance to venous return," estimates were made of peripheral static pressure in pregnant women. Measurements of cardiac output and venous resistance were accomplished with indirect plethysmographic techniques. Approximately 65% of pregnant women with complications had elevated values for their estimated peripheral static pressure. It is proposed that estimation of peripheral static pressure has both diagnostic and therapeutic applications in women with complications of pregnancy.