Low blood pressure - help!

[mandbaby]

I'm 25 weeks pregnant with dc3 (ds1 is 4.7 and ds2 is 2.11) and this morning I've woken up feeling really light headed. Every time I lean over I feel like I'm going to topple over. I saw the midwife yesterday for a routine check up at the end of a busy and stressful day. My boys were climbing all over the chair and couch in her surgery room and generally winding me up and not doing as they were asked. My blood pressure was only 98/58. I imagine that today it's even lower. I rang the midwife and all she said was that nothing can be done except to put my feet up. Yeah, right! With a 2 and 4 year old both at home with me. Can anyone else offer any better advice?

Hi, I'm in the same boat! Blood pressure recently dropped to 90/50 from 110/60, so am feeling very similar.

I'm afraid there's not a lot you can do other than the obvious: be careful when changing position, such as going from lying down to sitting/standing up, getting up from a chair etc. You might need to give yourself a few seconds to adjust before trying to walk or move. Other advice is to drink lots of water as that helps keep things stable, and make sure you're getting the right amount of sodium in your diet, which can also help to stabilise it. Try not to get hungry, too! Eat little and often through the day, like every hour, nothing very sugary so you avoid a burst of energy and then a horrible crash. Other than that, try to delegate as much as possible to other people, though obviously it's not always practical, and make sure you get plenty of rest, especially when it's hot and it might make your dizziness etc. worse.

I have suffered from low blood pressure for 4 years
Which has made me pass out a lot, luckily I was on medication for this but since being pregnant I wasn't allowed to carry on this medication so I have had to change a lot of my routines!
Unfortunately I have still been fainting but I feel like I know how to control it abit better now
I take snacks everywhere. I eat my breakfast at 6 when I'm up, then I have 6 small meals throughout the day. I never stand up on journeys and I have to stand up slowly when getting up.
I was also reccomded to intake more salt into my diet and drink loads. I now always have a bottle of water with me in my bag and a cereal bar.
Due to my low blood pressure I have to be consultant led and can't give birth in my local midwife led unit- yours was low yesterday but if you look after yourself it can easily rise:)
Take it easy and don't drink lucozade if you feel queesy! It makes me feel worse !

I'm 31 wks and my BP has been 90/48 since my 8 wk appointment. To be honest, I haven't felt light-headed much at all but I think that's because I normally have very low BP so it's not a huge change for me. I keep getting blue fingernails though. The one thing I do have to do now is eat breakfast. I used to leave the house having eaten nothing and then have something at work but nausea in first trimester forced me out of that habit. I drink a few cups of sweet tea a day and have a reasonably sweet tooth so I'm sure some sugary snacks throughout the day help too.

I also meant to say, bananas! I started eating a lot of these in first trimester as I felt they helped with nausea and tiredness and I've carried on throughout my pregnancy. I'm sure the natural sugars and potassium in them has helped.

Outside of pregnancy I usually have low blood pressure and have been advised to eat more salt. Hula hoops are a fave! And salty crackers. The heat can have an impact so make sure you stay hydrated. Bupa has some good info/advice on their website sorry I can't link it from my phone.

Thanks, ladies. This is all great and welcome advice. Funnily enough I had a banana just before lunchtime and felt far less dizzy afterwards. I don't normally eat them as they're not really something I enjoy but I just fancied one. I guess it was my body's way of telling me what I needed. I've been trying to drink plenty too but I find that very hard. I bet I rarely drink more than a litre of squash and a few cups of tea a day. Definitely not the recommended two litres!

90/46 here but then mine is always low so I am more used to the effects. I'm only 11 weeks but my midwife just said she wasn't worried and they're only concerned about high blood pressure so that's something at least.

Eating little and often helps and avoiding situations where you might get dizzy - standing on hot public transport is a guaranteed nono for me. In fact, getting too hot in general seems to make thigs worse. And definitely avoid leaping out of bed, standing too quickly. Oh and don't bend over to do your shoe laces, sit down instead.