high blood presure

[indie78]

does anyone know what is considered to be high blood pressure in pregnancy
Im a childrens nurse so maternity is something i know little about, was teaching a student how to do high blood pressure and mine was 135/90 which ordinarily is getting toward high blood pressure, but dont know if the threshold is different in pregnancy
jsut wondered if anyone else knows about this

 

[Tiny Sue]

Hi Indie hun...

I think that while you are pregnant your blood pressure is supposed to rise slightly. However I had preeclampsia last time, and when it was diagnosed, my blood pressure was something like that...130/95. The nurse at the time said that the diastolic reading of 95 was the worrying one and I was put on Labetalol immediately. I also had injections of a hormone to mature baby's lungs in case I went into preterm labour. My bp rose to about 160/97 or 98 before I had symptoms at which point they decided to give me a Caesarean.

Hope this helps.

Sue

 

[indie78]

thanks for that sue
i was just wondering as i am getting quite a few headaches
I have a midwife appointment on 16th so will see what it is then

 

[Naterjack]

Hi there
140/90 is the line where they would suspect high BP - but it can change all the time
Ive been 120/70 all the way through my pregnancy, but on Monday i was 170/96 and it made me panic - 4 days later and its back down

My MW suggested keeping an eye on my BP at home (i got my own BP monitor from the chemist) and if the bottom number goes over 90 then they need to keep an eye on it regularly

 

[Tiny Sue]

Indie,

DON'T leave it till the 16th, go to doc now. Report any symptoms you have like headaches, spots before eyes and upper right quadrant pain or swelling and puffiness. You need checking out.

Don't be frightened, just think of it as getting checked out.

Best of luck
Sue

 

[MummyJess]

I don't think thresholds change because of pregnancy. 90 diastolic is on the high side so need to keep an eye on that, esp with the headaches.

I had pre-eclampsia in my first pregnancy which was diagnosed at 35 weeks. My bp at the time was only 130/85 but as my booking in bp had only been 90/50 they realised it was very high for me. I also had ++protein in my urine and severe odema round my ankles, fingers and face. By the time I was induced at 36 weeks, it was 200/110.

What is your usual bp? Have you ever had problems before? It's prob not too much to worry about at this stage. As a nurse do you have access to the wee testing sticks? Could you check for protein?

 

[indie78]

yes it probably would be better to get checked out- if its ok then no harm in having been checked out
cheers

 

[indie78]

Jess: yes im not too worried about pre-ecalmpsia at the mo as my ususal Bp is around 125/80 and last time i checked my urine it was fine, no swelling or anything
just wondering about the headaches really- but that could just as easily be tiredness!

 

[MummyJess]

Jess: yes im not too worried about pre-ecalmpsia at the mo as my ususal Bp is around 125/80 and last time i checked my urine it was fine, no swelling or anything
just wondering about the headaches really- but that could just as easily be tiredness!

Very likely to be tiredness hun. Still quite early to be pre-eclampsia as well now I think about it. Best to keep an eye on thingstho.

Def sounds like a few days rest wouldn't go amiss if you can.