First of all, when we talk about hypertension of pregnancy, we must remember that this condition does not prevent a woman from having a healthy, full-term baby. That being said, it is also a fact that high blood pressure or hypertension during pregnancy can be risky for both mother and baby.
It is also a fact that women who are genetically prone to high blood pressure or who are chronically hypertensive are more likely to have a more complicated pregnancy compared to normal healthy women.
How often do we find cases of hypertension in pregnancy?
According to official estimates, in the US, 6-8% of pregnancies have high blood pressure problems and 65% of these problem pregnancies occur with women who are pregnant for the first time. Harmful effects of high blood pressure during pregnancy include damage to the mother’s kidneys, premature delivery and low birth weight of the baby, and a condition called preeclampsia which is basically toxemia during pregnancy, which can be dangerous for both the mother and baby
While pregnancy is a condition that fills any woman with endless joy, it is also the time when your doctor will check your blood pressure, including various other aspects of your health. Blood pressure control is important because of a condition called pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) that raises an expectant mother’s blood pressure.
During the last half of your term, if your blood pressure was above 140/90 mmHg, then your doctor would diagnose pregnancy-induced hypertension. This condition can be in two forms, preeclampsia and exclampsia, which are the main reasons for infant and maternal mortality in the US.
This condition is found in about 5 to 10% of all pregnancies in this country, and so far there are no known causes of hypertension during pregnancy. It is considered that this condition may have its origin at the beginning of the pregnancy during the embryo implantation stage. While during normal pregnancy the uterine blood vessels are relaxed, women with hypertension during pregnancy have unusually constricted blood vessels, which could be a plausible explanation for hypertension during pregnancy.
Some of the predisposing risk factors for AHT during pregnancy are: when the mother’s age is under 20 or over 35; when the mother has a history of diabetes; She is already a patient with AHT or hypertension before pregnancy.
There are several types of pregnancy hypertension, of which the three main ones are:
- gestational hypertension: The most common hypertension of pregnancy when the woman has a blood pressure of 140/90 during the last half of her term. No hypertension symptoms of pregnancy are visible in this type of condition.
- preeclampsia: A more serious type of pregnancy disorder, it is diagnosed when the blood pressure reading is higher than 140/90 in the last 20 weeks of pregnancy.
- Eclampsia: One of the most dangerous forms of hypertension in pregnancy where it can cause the woman to go into a coma.
Some of the common symptoms of hypertension during pregnancy include blood pressure readings above 140/90; protein found in the urine (caused by a damaged kidney); swelling of the face and neck; blurry vision; headache; nauseating; vomiting; abdominal pain, etc. Educating the patient about hypertension in pregnancy is an extremely important point to consider for all mothers-to-be.
Take some time to browse the Internet and visit forums that are exclusively about pregnancy and the possible complications that can arise during this critical time in your life.
Be that as it may, there is no known cure or treatment for high blood pressure in pregnancy. If hypertension is detected during pregnancy towards the end of the period, doctors usually recommend complete bed rest and regular blood pressure monitoring. The doctor may also decide to prescribe some medication for high blood pressure, but the best treatment for high blood pressure during pregnancy is the delivery of the baby.
Once the newborn arrives, most problems just go away. If high blood pressure is detected during the early part of the pregnancy, your doctor will ask you to decide whether to carry the pregnancy to term or opt for an early caesarean section.