Dr. Christine Blauvelt is a perinatologist, a specialist in the care of patients experiencing high-risk pregnancies. Her role includes helping patients manage preexisting conditions that can affect pregnancy, including diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure) and heart disease, as well as complications that arise during pregnancy. She performs fetal ultrasound and prenatal diagnostic testing, and she cares for patients who are hospitalized with obstetric conditions. She has a particular interest in improving outcomes for patients with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, focusing on better blood pressure monitoring during pregnancy and the postpartum period and on ways to reduce the long-term risk of developing cardiovascular problems.

In research, Dr. Blauvelt investigates how infections during pregnancy affect the placenta and contribute to complications, such as fetal growth restriction, preeclampsia and preterm birth. To learn more about these complications and to develop strategies to avoid them, her work combines prospective clinical studies – which follow groups of patients over time – with advanced molecular techniques.