To not have a 2nd baby due to previous Gestational hypertension

[AliceAbsolum]

Apparently it can really increase your risk of death / serious ill health in the future!

Mine was regularly 170/110 in the 3rd trimester, but I was taking meds and well monitored.

Went to the optitions recently and she said she could see the impact of it in my eyes.

Has this made anyone else worried about future pregnancies? I want to be about for DD long into the future.

I had preeclampsia and don’t want to risk getting it again. I’m terrified about any long term damage that may have been done.

Scary isn't it. Were you counselled about future pregnancies?

You need to ask a doctor not MN.

Yes I'm sure I'd easily find a Dr who would give me an answer 😂

Obviously I'm looking for other women's experiences not medical advice.

I think the main thing with the risk is that you have that underlying risk already, not that being pregnant caused it - being pregnant and developing the gestational hypertension just revealed your underlying risk of heart disease. That's my understanding (if that makes sense?) but I might be wrong. It's the same if you develop gestational diabetes - having GDM doesn't cause you to have diabetes later in life, you were always at risk of that, it's just pregnancy is a state in which your body is under more stress so reveals the conditions you're at risk of developing later anyway. It'd be worth trying to verify that, but I'd say that it's more important to modify any risk factors you can (i.e. stop smoking if relevant, maintain healthy BMI, have regular health checks, exercise regularly etc) rather than avoiding pregnancy per say. But optimising health prior to pregnancy is really important. And take 150mg aspirin from 12 weeks in any future pregnancies to reduce risk of recurrence.

There's a small amount on this in the NICE guidelines on hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, but it doesn't say a huge amount. Pages 37-40ish

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng133/resources/hypertension-in-pregnancy-diagnosis-and-management-pdf-66141717671365

Your risk of developing a blood pressure condition (i.e. gestational hypertension or pre-eclampsia) in a future pregnancy is only 22% (1 in 5 people) so actually it's not that high, 78% of people WON'T develop it...

Your GP might be able to refer you for pre-conception counselling to discuss all of this, although I'm. not sure everywhere offers it.

Hope that helps :D

I would say its had a very big impact on me being 90% sure I’m not going to do it again.

My BP was genuinely 220/110 at 16 weeks & I ended up hospitalised multiple times throughout my pregnancy when it was sky high - it was very very labile & would fluctuate wildly. Randomly from 30 weeks it actually settled down & stayed low (with meds but Id been taking the meds from 16 weeks) until I was induced on my due date, baby was 7lb 5oz so thankfully size wise ok. I never had a sniff of protein in my wee & never developed pre-eclampsia.

It was a bit of a vicious circle because I was so stressed about it which didnt help my BP! Another thing which used to stress me out massively was that multiple HCPs would tell me ‘you don't look like someone who would have high blood pressure’ BMI normal, non smoker, barely drink alcohol, exercise multiple times a week, decent balanced diet, 33yo at the time …. I felt dreadful because there was nothing more I could do to reduce my risk factors! I presume it’s genetic - I don't know my paternal family to know their MH.
My BP is still high without medication 5 years down the line so I have stayed on it - this is despite now exercising more than ever!
I did have multiple investigations - cardiac/kidney/adrenal - post pregnancy but everything was fine!

Combined with the fact I get migraines, I dont think theres much down for me in the future cardiovascularly 🙈🤣 but I cant do more than I am!

I also had other seperate issues that made c section very difficult & puts me at much higher risk of complications/stoma following a further c section.

Last year I had pre conception counselling with the consultant who did my c section …. Tbh even though there were 2 separate issues I found she was VERY blase about a future pregnancy. She basically glossed over it & said well you never actually had pre eclampsia & your BP ended up being well controlled at the end of pregnancy & subsequently (albeit with meds) so you are at higher risk but Im not really concerned. Although she did give me approx a 20% chance of needing a stoma & was very la-di-dah about that also so I found the whole experience pretty pointless as I didn't come out of the appointment feeling anymore reassured/convinced than I did going in, but maybe I am being unfair & that is my anxiety talking.

I did find the care from the hospital faultless (I attended the maternity day unit twice a week from 16 weeks) during my pregnancy

I’m now 38, soon to be 39 so it really is now or never but honestly I’m not sure I can bring myself to do it again ….. but I’m struggling with the whole OAD guilt can of worms 🙈

Sorry that was an absolute brain dump but TLDR - YES! I am very worried about future pregnancies, if I hadnt had this issue Im 100% certain we’d have had another by now.

I posted about this on another thread recently but I've been in two studies relating to this.

I had gestational hypertension in my first pregnancy at 39w and then gestational hypertension followed by preeclampsia starting at 36w in my second. I do think there was an error in that I didn't not take asprin in my second pregnancy as I was categorised as low risk, whereas i did in my first pregnancy. In hindsight, I should have just taken it myself I think. I read somewhere that asprin is showing such good results that it might become as standard as folic acid.

The hypertension in my second pregnancy was not well controlled - basically I was having monitoring every second day and they were increasing the medication each time. I'm unsurprised it turned into preeclampsia.

As a result of the studies, my hospital now offers every woman who has hypertension, PE or GD an echo, ecg and bloods at 12weeks post partum. Apparently any damage can be shown that early on. They also provide advice on what to do if there are any indications. The researcher running the study said they are hoping this will be rolled out nationally.

My consultant midwife basically said that issues in pregnancy can be used as a bit of an early warning indicator of what might happen in 20yrs time (i was 34 and 37 during the pregnancies). So to use this as a sign to keep an eye on BP, stress levels, heart healthy diet and exercise etc. All sounds sensible enough. I think our family is complete now but PE was not a nice experience and I would be worried about having it again.

Ah that's all so helpful thanks everyone.

Sounds like a lot of you were monitored and given advice post partum.

Maybe I'd ask for a conception counseling appointment.

Scary that it shows up potential problems in the future... I was also young ish very fit normal weight non smoker etc.