Pregnant with high blood pressure

[wishiwasonholiday]

Just wondered if anyone has got their bfp who already has high blood pressure?

Got my bfp today so went to gp about all my medication and they worried me as they are rushing me on to the antenatal consultant next week or week after so will only be 4-6 weeks.

Bump

Hello, I didn't have hbp at the start of my pregnancy (it was lovely and low) but it was very high by booking (12 weeks) at 150/100 and I'd had 2 isolated episodes of it in the past (once when on the pill years ago, and once during a recent miscarriage) so it was classified as essential hypertension. It then zoomed up by about 16 weeks to 180/110 so i ended up in a&e overnight whilst they found the right mixture and dosage of medication for me. I wasn't on medication during pregnancy. Try not to worry - now that you are very much on your radar they will monitor you closely.

I expect they will be checking whether your current medication needs tweaking for during pregnancy. I've got frequent blood pressure checks ESP now that I'm near the end (35 weeks). I also had some other referrals to make sure there was nothing else causing it, so i went for a kidney scan, a heart ultrasound, an umbilical chord Doppler to check that the hbp wasn't affecting the blood flow to the placenta, plus I had a couple of extra growth scans scheduled as I understand hbp + medication can sometimes affect growth a little (although I've also got gestational diabetes so my baby has the opposite problem!). I also had a referral to an endocrinologist who also specialised in obstetrics, who was able to assess my whole case.

So my experience has been that the medical staff have been all over it, taking a lot of care to ensure that the baby and I are ok, so as I say, try not to worry because the fact that they are taking prompt action to get you assessed is a good sign.

It is likely to have an effect on your birth choices - eg you may be told you can't have a home birth or be in the midwife led unit, and much of yor antenatal care may be with doctors as well as midwives, so bear that in mind. But I've found it a reassurance to have so much access to the obstetricians.

Sorry I meant to say I wasn't on medication BEFORE pregnancy. I am on quite a lot of medication during pregnancy!

Sorry,I keep thinking of new things to say! When my hbp during this pregnancy was first discovered it was at a GP appointment (it wasn't discovered at booking; it was the fact that it was high by the point of booking that meant that they classified it as essential hypertension rather than pregnancy-induced, a classification I continue to take issue with to this day!). The GP needed to speak to an obstetrician before writing me a prescription as I understand it wasn't something GPs routinely see so she wasn't sure what medication was best, so judging by my experience it sounds quite normal that you've been referred on to the obstetric consultant at this stage rather than it being dealt with by your GP.

Thanks for the reply. I was expecting to be consultant led anyway as this is dc3 and dc1 had suspected iugr but was ok but placenta started failing at 39 weeks, dc2 had iugr and low fluid and I had high blood pressure at the end which then went back to normal for 2.5 years. It just worried me that when I asked about midwife she just said I had to go to the consultant first and I'm only 4 weeks, hopefully just as she wasn't sure what to give me, she said stay on lisiprinol until I go as if any harms been done its already too late.

It sounds like she isn't sure what to give you so wants you to see the obstetrician ASAP, and that that is more urgent than you seeing a midwife. Not sure what the policy is in your area but I didn't see a midwife till I was 12 weeks.

I had high blood pressure and was on nifedipine for it when I fell pregnant with my youngest. I had already discussed with my doctor about trying to get pregnant so knew that it was safe to stay on the nifedipine. I was also told to continue taking aspirin daily as that can reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia.

I did have problems as the consultant I was under for my pregnancy disagreed with my cardiologist about how my BP should be controlled. I followed my cardiologist's instructions as hypertension in pregnancy was his specialist field. Try not to worry and congratulations!!

I'm on labetalol and methyldopa during this pregnancy, plus a low-dose aspirin a day.

Yeah, I had high bp before bfp. I was on methleydopa and the dosage has increased slightly. Had an appointment with consultant who suggested dispersible aspirin every morning and also for weekly appointments with midwife. I was told that those who have high blood pressure before falling pregnant usually have safer pregnancies as your monitored so closely and any problems are picked up on straight away. So far my bp has been fine and it's lovely hearing babies heartbeat every day. Just remembered I was told that the babies tend to be slightly smaller if you're on medication but it's not a problem as such.

Doctors have rung today to say stop the lisinopril and have given me nifedipine on the advice of the consultant. Just waiting for an appointment now.

Glad they seem to be looking after you.