High Blood Pressure during and after Labour

[nancy10]

I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl this week, but during and after her delivery my blood pressure shot up. I have never suffered from high blood pressure before, even in previous pregnancies. I feel really well in myself, no headaches, blurry vision etc. It goes up then comes down slightly and I think it's settling, only for it to fly up again. I'm taking some medication for it for 7 days in the hope to lower it. Has anyone else had this and how long did it take to return to normal? I finding myself stressed at just the thought of having my bp taken and it's hanging over me all the time and worrying me which isn't helping the situation.

How high is it?

Congratulations on your new arrival!

Mine shot up alarmingly during DC3 delivery and I was kept in for monitoring. I was prescribed medication and referred to GP. High BP doesnt usually cause any symptoms - occassionally I can feel my heartbeat in my ears if it goes too high

I have to say that mine has not ever recovered :( and they cant give me a reason for it but it is very easily managed by medication.

Now 3 years later I'm pregnant with DC4 and being monitored very closely. I had to come off my usual medication as it is not recommended in pregnancy, and your BP decreases in the first trimester anyway (which is why some ladies feel faint.. too low bp) but when I was checked at 20 weeks it was 180/125

Try not to worry too much... its still really soon after giving birth - I was advised to buy a home BP monitor and check myself; you can get them fairly cheaply from the chemist. Some people suffer from 'white coat hypertension' which is basically where your BP goes up just because your doctor/midwife is checking it!

Good Luck nancy10, I hope it settles soon for you :)

Hi Nancy10,
i had very high bp 2 weeks before i gave birth (it just happened) and i ended up having an emcs due to pre-eclampsia. It went back to normal during the emcs as i had an epidural but then within hours it was dangerously high (195/ 155) again. i had vomiting, headaches and the most awful time. i had to stay in for 10 days and was on labetalol for weeks. i visited the doc/ hospital daily after this and was given a bp cuff to wear at home which enabled me to take my bp in 'normal' surroundings. It was very high for ages, even walking upstairs with the baby would increase it, i would be red-faced and generally felt totally and utterly knackered (it totally spoiled the first month with my baby ;-( ) anyway, after exactly 4 weeks of giving birth, i was still on medication and was in the shower when i suddenly felt faint. i took my bp and found it to be very very low (90/ 50). i rang the doc and he said to immediately stop taking the medication as it seemed as though my bp had normalised itself. i went in to see him and it really had, in fact better than ever, (120/80). the funny thing is that when i have my bp taken on one of those automated machines (the ones that make a horrible beeping sound) i can feel my heart beat strongly and i know the bp reading will be high.
all the best and i hope the above helps.

willowcrow- im sorry yours didnt return to normal

Each time, I've been on BP medication for 6 weeks. But never quite gone back to as low as it was before first labour.

I have normally very low BP but at birth of second child it went quite high. It seemed to lower enough for me to come home but then went up again. After 5 days they gave me medication which just sent me off the scale as they could not get the dose right. I was getting more and more stressed and upset every day when they came to take a reading particulaly as they kept threatening to admit me back into the hospital and I am convinced that this did nothing to help lower it.

After 7 days I had enough, stopped the pills, monitered it myself using the kit loaned from the doc and it went back down to its normal low value. I am expecting number 3 in the next couple of months and if this happens again I am going to insist that I monitor it myself and will not be taking the medication in a hurry. Maybe a naive view but the whole thing made me so stresed in the first weeks after birth that I have no wish to go through that again. I later found out that if I had been under a different midwives area, my high BP would not have been cause for concern

All I can say is try to relax, convince them to let you monitor it yourself and find a health professional to consult for advice that does not panic you. Good luck

I recently had my daughter.

At my 37 week appointment midwife notice my bloodpressure was 150/100 and protein in urine was sent to hospital and at 38 weeks induced as it struggled to come down. Was kept in a further 4 days after delivery.

Mine shot up to 160/110 at 36 weeks, was induced at 38. I was kept in for 7 days and finally came off the labetelol when DS was 12 weeks.