May 2025 is National High Blood Pressure Education Month, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is highlighting a trailblazing collaboration with two other leading organizations to protect children's health through proper blood pressure screening.
CHOP, the Magical Mila Foundation and Baxter International have joined forces on the "BP Under 3" campaign to revolutionize how medical professionals monitor blood pressure in children under three years old.
A critical collaboration
The BP Under 3 initiative began with Mila Roomberg, a CHOP patient with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). Despite regular medical care, Mila's high blood pressure went undetected due to the all-too-common complexity of diagnosing high blood pressure in children, challenges in accurate measurement and lack of any symptoms. Her hypertension was only discovered during a sedated MRI which revealed dangerously high blood pressure caused by narrowing of her aorta and renal arteries.
After Mila’s death, due to complications from a surgery related to her NF1, her parents, Dan and Jess Roomberg, approached CHOP with a mission to prevent other children with underlying high blood pressure from flying under the radar. They founded the Magical Mila Foundation and partnered with CHOP experts and members of Mila’s medical team, Kevin Meyers, MD, DTM&H, FCP(SA), and Rachel Hachen, MD, MPH to address this critical gap in pediatric care.
A growing initiative
Obtaining an accurate blood pressure reading for children under 3 is challenging — yet, ensuring accurate numbers, especially for high-risk children, is crucial. Accurate measurements are commonly overlooked in primary care settings due to lack of education and technology that isn’t catered to this specific age group. With focused intentional collaboration, the Roombergs and Drs. Meyers and Hachen developed campaign materials with several key initiatives:
- Development of best practice alerts in CHOP's medical record system to identify high risk children who need blood pressure checks
- Reeducation programs across the CHOP Care Network
- Creation of educational materials, including a teaching video, posters and badge reference cards for medical personnel
- Research to determine the most effective device/s for measuring blood pressure in young children
Sharing a vision
The collaboration expanded when Baxter International, a global medical products company specializing in health monitoring technologies, joined the effort. As a leading manufacturer of blood pressure devices, Baxter saw an opportunity to join the education and advocacy efforts.
Baxter's vision aligns perfectly with the project. Eric Reyer, Director of Medical Affairs, Front Line Care shares the heart of their involvement: "Get the word out to save and sustain lives, it’s that simple."
The company provided crucial funding for the expansion of the BP Under 3 initiative. The goal is to reach other pediatric health care systems so that routine hypertension screening can happen for all high-risk children under 3 years-of-age. Baxter also awarded a grant to the Magical Mila Foundation for continued patient family outreach and education.
Dan and Jess Roomberg share what this collaboration means to them: “We are so grateful to our BP Under 3 team and we are so honored to collaborate with Baxter to continue our education initiative and focus our efforts on patient and family outreach. Our progress is profound, and with the collaboration of CHOP, Magical Mila Foundation and Baxter, we expect to reach a new level of impact! Mila was only with us for 17 and a half months and we miss her beyond measure, but we take great comfort in her legacy in the future care of other children just like her.”
Why it matters
Hypertension is often called a "silent killer" because it typically shows no symptoms or signs until serious complications arise. In young children, undetected high blood pressure can lead to heart, brain and kidney problems with organ damage or failure. Yet most medical settings aren't screening small children properly — if at all.
"Our ultimate goal is to have 100% of kids who are at risk get their blood pressure done correctly," explained CHOP clinician, Dr. Meyers. The team has developed a "toolkit" of techniques for proper blood pressure measurement in young children, designed to be shared widely with other institutions and is device-independent, promoting broad adoption.
A call to action
This High Blood Pressure Education Month, healthcare professionals and parents alike are encouraged to learn more about proper blood pressure screening for children under three:
- Clinicians should evaluate their practices for measuring blood pressure in young children
- Parents need to advocate for proper blood pressure checks for their children and obtain education on the importance of this screening
- Healthcare institutions should consider implementing alerts and protocols similar to those at CHOP
On May 16, 2025, most of Philadelphia will be lit up pink in honor of NF Awareness Month and High Blood Pressure Education Month, in memory of Mila. This visible reminder underscores the importance of the BP Under 3 campaign and its potential to save young lives through early detection of high blood pressure.
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May 2025 is National High Blood Pressure Education Month, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is highlighting a trailblazing collaboration with two other leading organizations to protect children's health through proper blood pressure screening.
CHOP, the Magical Mila Foundation and Baxter International have joined forces on the "BP Under 3" campaign to revolutionize how medical professionals monitor blood pressure in children under three years old.
A critical collaboration
The BP Under 3 initiative began with Mila Roomberg, a CHOP patient with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). Despite regular medical care, Mila's high blood pressure went undetected due to the all-too-common complexity of diagnosing high blood pressure in children, challenges in accurate measurement and lack of any symptoms. Her hypertension was only discovered during a sedated MRI which revealed dangerously high blood pressure caused by narrowing of her aorta and renal arteries.
After Mila’s death, due to complications from a surgery related to her NF1, her parents, Dan and Jess Roomberg, approached CHOP with a mission to prevent other children with underlying high blood pressure from flying under the radar. They founded the Magical Mila Foundation and partnered with CHOP experts and members of Mila’s medical team, Kevin Meyers, MD, DTM&H, FCP(SA), and Rachel Hachen, MD, MPH to address this critical gap in pediatric care.
A growing initiative
Obtaining an accurate blood pressure reading for children under 3 is challenging — yet, ensuring accurate numbers, especially for high-risk children, is crucial. Accurate measurements are commonly overlooked in primary care settings due to lack of education and technology that isn’t catered to this specific age group. With focused intentional collaboration, the Roombergs and Drs. Meyers and Hachen developed campaign materials with several key initiatives:
- Development of best practice alerts in CHOP's medical record system to identify high risk children who need blood pressure checks
- Reeducation programs across the CHOP Care Network
- Creation of educational materials, including a teaching video, posters and badge reference cards for medical personnel
- Research to determine the most effective device/s for measuring blood pressure in young children
Sharing a vision
The collaboration expanded when Baxter International, a global medical products company specializing in health monitoring technologies, joined the effort. As a leading manufacturer of blood pressure devices, Baxter saw an opportunity to join the education and advocacy efforts.
Baxter's vision aligns perfectly with the project. Eric Reyer, Director of Medical Affairs, Front Line Care shares the heart of their involvement: "Get the word out to save and sustain lives, it’s that simple."
The company provided crucial funding for the expansion of the BP Under 3 initiative. The goal is to reach other pediatric health care systems so that routine hypertension screening can happen for all high-risk children under 3 years-of-age. Baxter also awarded a grant to the Magical Mila Foundation for continued patient family outreach and education.
Dan and Jess Roomberg share what this collaboration means to them: “We are so grateful to our BP Under 3 team and we are so honored to collaborate with Baxter to continue our education initiative and focus our efforts on patient and family outreach. Our progress is profound, and with the collaboration of CHOP, Magical Mila Foundation and Baxter, we expect to reach a new level of impact! Mila was only with us for 17 and a half months and we miss her beyond measure, but we take great comfort in her legacy in the future care of other children just like her.”
Why it matters
Hypertension is often called a "silent killer" because it typically shows no symptoms or signs until serious complications arise. In young children, undetected high blood pressure can lead to heart, brain and kidney problems with organ damage or failure. Yet most medical settings aren't screening small children properly — if at all.
"Our ultimate goal is to have 100% of kids who are at risk get their blood pressure done correctly," explained CHOP clinician, Dr. Meyers. The team has developed a "toolkit" of techniques for proper blood pressure measurement in young children, designed to be shared widely with other institutions and is device-independent, promoting broad adoption.
A call to action
This High Blood Pressure Education Month, healthcare professionals and parents alike are encouraged to learn more about proper blood pressure screening for children under three:
- Clinicians should evaluate their practices for measuring blood pressure in young children
- Parents need to advocate for proper blood pressure checks for their children and obtain education on the importance of this screening
- Healthcare institutions should consider implementing alerts and protocols similar to those at CHOP
On May 16, 2025, most of Philadelphia will be lit up pink in honor of NF Awareness Month and High Blood Pressure Education Month, in memory of Mila. This visible reminder underscores the importance of the BP Under 3 campaign and its potential to save young lives through early detection of high blood pressure.