Low blood pressure

[Sam1975]

Hi,

does anyone know the potential consequences of a low blood pressure during birth?

I have always had a pretty low blood pressure and mine was now measured 93:56 at 39 weeks. Whilst I heard that a low blood pressure is better than a high one, I am now a bit concerned what the impact might be during birth and also particularly in connection with an epidural (which I heard could cause blood pressure to fall further?). Any insights are highly appreciated to get some peace of mind!!

I had very low blood pressure during my second pregnancy. It made me feel awful so you have my unreserved sympathy. It didn't affect my delivery though at all. I had a natural birth (well, I had gas and air).

My SIL also has very low blood pressure which continued during her pregnancy and she had an epidural without any trouble at all.

I don't know if it is true in every case but it was no problem during delivery for either of us.

I had low BP throughout both my pregnancies, 90/50 most times. Made me tired and I had to get up slowly from sleeping or I'd lose some vision, but otherwise fine.

DC1 became an emergency forceps in theatre with a spinal due to trapped position, before that I just had G&A. DC2 was an elcs. I didn't have any fainting or lightheadedness with either or any anaesthetic related complications. I was utterly beyond exhaustion from the moment labour started with DC1 which I think was the unbirthable position putting a ton of strain on me internally, rather than a response to my low BP.

My non pregnant BP is also low though - 100/60 usually - so maybe my body is just used to it?

My blood pressure is always very low and remained low through out both my pregnancies.

Once labour kicked in with DS I felt extremely faint and all plans of an active labour went out of the window as I had to lie on my side on the bed or I felt like I was going to pass out. I was at the gym all the way through my pregnancies so in theory I was fighting fit, but I literally could not raise my head off the pillow, I didn't dare try gas and air for fear or keeling over or throwing up. (DS was eventually an em cs due to problems with my cervix and DD was a planned cs - no problems).

I also suffer from low blood pressure (pre-and post-pregnancy), I have been suffering from blackouts and dizziness/fainting spells and fits since I was about 5, which has always been put down to lbp, as i've had numerous blood tests/iron levels high/ecg's normal. Its been happening more frequently since being pregnant though, and sometimes i am out cold for minutes at a time, and have been known to go bright blue during the blackout and for about half an hour after an episode. I have finally been referred to a specialist, who I am seeing tomorrow. I will share my concerns about my problems, as I am starting to worry about what will happen if I was to pass out when on my own with the baby etc, or even if i collapse on my own while pregnant. I've also been wondering if it will cause any problems in labour, so will be asking him tomorrow. I will see what I can find out from him regarding lbp and labour, and will let you know my findings if you want!

Many thanks everyone - good to hear Im not the only one with low BP.

Bean - sorry to hear that this has affected you so much, but good that you are seeing a specialist about this - I know that you can practically get used to fainting once in a while, but with a baby on board this becomes a different story!!!

Have low bp - around the same as you - generally and also had it during pregnancy. Had an epidural - they didn't seem to be worried about my bp (can't remember if they took it before I had it??) and no one told me that it could lower bp. Had gas an air and pethidine as well. I was absolutely fine - no nausea, no diziness, no feeling faint. Make sure you stay well hydrated and that you keep yor energy up, by eating if you can, but with glucose drinks/fruit juices if you can't. Hydration is really important if you have low bp! Good luck. And good luck Bean XX

Sam - just a quick update - saw the specialist yesterday. Midwife saw me first and said that lbp during labour is not an issue, told me that it will have no affect on the baby as well, she went on about something to do with the placenta providing the baby with everything [insert blank face].
But she said that an epidural shouldn't cause any problems either.
The specialist was useless, unfortunately he was foreign (I don't mean that offensively, its just that I literally could not understand him, nor him me) and my DH had to interpret (he's better at understanding accents than me). Doc seemed to think it was all pregnancy related, and just kept telling me my bp would return to normal after the pregnancy. Didn't understand when i said its been like it all my life. Eventually DH convinced him to book me in for a EEG brain thingamajog (official term....) so fingers crossed that helps get to the bottom of it!
But the good news is - lbp = no effect on pregnancy or labour! {fsmile]

Or even!

Hi Bean - huge thanks for the update! Sorry to hear though that your conversation with the specialist was more an interpreting job, but glad to hear that you put your foot down and have this checked more thoroughly in the near future! Good luck!! Im now 40+1 but all very quiet here and LO apparently way too comfortable where he is right now..thanks to you I am now a lot more relaxed and stopped fretting over this lbp issue, so huge thanks and all the best to you!

Hi I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to provide my experience in case it helps anyone. I’m not at all trying to scare anyone, because positive birth stories are important to focus on. But it’s about being informed. I didn’t have low blood pressure before birth, but when they put in the epidural for induction my blood pressure crashed very suddenly and I fainted and seized. I was then rushed to theatre where they monitored baby and me. Baby was compensating for my low blood pressure with high heart rate but clearly hadn’t settled down, so to avoid a recurrence we opted for (not quite emergency) c section. This turned out to be the right decision for us, as I was exhausted from the episode and had thrown up anything I’d eaten to sustain myself for a vaginal labour. All worked out well, but just wanted to provide an example of a possible blood pressure issue caused by epidural.