Pregnancy is a delicate time for women and they are urged to take extra care of themselves. While most women do not experience any difficulties during pregnancy, there are some women who face certain complications regarding their health. One such complication is high blood pressure, which can occur at any time during the pregnancy. Blood pressure level in which the systolic reading is higher than 140 and the diastolic reading is higher than 90 is considered to be high blood pressure. According to the American Pregnancy Association, women who are in their teenage years or in their 40s, with a personal or family history of hypertension or kidney disorders or first time pregnancies are more susceptible to developing high blood pressure in pregnancy.

What Are Signs of High Blood Pressure in Early Pregnancy

Its symptoms include headaches, blurred vision and visual disturbances like seeing spots, fatigue and decrease in urinary frequency. However, since there are many women who do not exhibit any signs of high blood pressure, doctors usually recommend checking the blood pressure regularly at home and at the clinic as well because this is the only sure way of finding out whether blood pressure is normal or not.

Treatment of high blood pressure depends on the stage of pregnancy.

In early pregnancy, women are suggested to control their blood pressure with dietary changes such as taking lots of fluids and avoiding sodium. A doctor may also recommend sleeping on the left side so that less pressure is put on the vena cava which is major artery on the right side of the body. If these do not work, medications can also be prescribed by the doctor. In the later stages of pregnancy, in order to protect the health of the mother and the baby, the doctors usually deliver the baby. This is necessary as severely high blood pressure can be fatal both for the mother and the baby.

High blood pressure in expecting women can lead to preeclampsia if they also have swelling and protein in the urine. Delivering the baby is the only cure for preeclampsia. If a woman is diagnosed with this problem, she needs to be monitored closely and most probably will be advised bed rest. Fortunately, women with preeclampsia will have a normal blood pressure after delivery.

Hypertension is chronic if it is diagnosed before the 20th week of pregnancy and pregnant women suffering from this will continue to have high blood pressure even after delivery.

Your Comments

Click here to add a comment

Name:


Location:


Email:


Comment:




Please enter the Captcha code:

There are no comments to display