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Hypertension in Pregnancy

Increased blood pressure in a pregnant woman who had a normal blood pressure before becoming pregnant is due to the complex process of the placenta getting laid in the walls of the womb.

It’s astonishing for a mother to have a high blood pressure, but there are several important things to keep in mind, that is it will only be confined to the pregnancy and once the baby is born the pressure levels return to normal. It usually occurs around 20th week of pregnancy because the complex process mentioned above completes around the 20th week.

Symptoms of high blood pressure

You will experience swelling in your face, fingers, ankles first. You will be considered as having increased blood pressure if your pressure is >140/90 mmHg on at least 2 occasions which are 4 or more hours apart. Once you are diagnosed as having high blood pressure, it is important to check your urine for substance called protein to assess how sever the disease is.

Controlling your blood pressure from the initial stage is mandatory as it causes many complications to mother as well as the baby.

The mother can get fits, bleeding into different organs such as lung, brain, can even lead to blindness. Baby’s development is also compromised due to decreased flow of blood to placenta, also high blood pressure may cause the placenta to separate prematurely from the womb and there by causing death of baby and bleeding in mother.

Are you at risk?

If you are a mother who has a family history of hypertension, if you have become pregnant for the first time,or if you are suffering from other diseases such as diabetes mellitus, kidney disease for a long time, you are at risk of having high blood pressure during pregnancy.

If you had high blood pressure during your previous pregnancy again you are at risk of getting high blood pressure.