Hypertension in pregnancy

[PetitFilou1]

I am almost 17 weeks and my blood pressure is 128/84. The GP is keeping an eye on me as if the second figure (diastolic? sp) goes over 90 they will consider treating me for hypertension. I am feeling very stressed as we are about to move house and have been arguing with dh about various things - so I know what is causing it. I just don't know what to do about it. Has anyone else had any experience of this or have any suggestions as to how to cope?
My mum feels I should give up work (I do three days a week at the moment). Realistically this would mean taking my mat leave early as we are still paying for the children to be in nursery until the end of April and I can't afford not to be paid.

Dont get stressed, its not that high for pregnancy, just cut out salt and drink lots of water. Try not to put on too much weight

My BP went up to 140/90 around month 5 of my first pregnancy...i spent two weeks taking it easy and bought a BP monitor. It slowly came down and stayed down for the rest of my pregnancy.

Sit down with hubby and try to explain that you're feeling stressed and need to relax. Ask him for help with that...maybe he could massage you at weekends or run you a bath at night? This is a better approach than- 'You're really pissing me off just now so stop it'.

Can you just take one or two weeks off work rather than stop working altogether?

There are varying opinions about causes of new hypertension in pregnancy- of course the biggest fear is pre-eclampsia and although it is incredibly rare the PE strikes before 20 weeks there is some evidence the hypertension before this can be a precursor.

There is also some evidence that 'background' stress does not always cause higher BP so beware that this may not be the underlying cause- although it certainly doesn't help so do try to take steps to relax as much as possible and talk to your DH about this.

Officially hypertension in pregnancy ('pregnancy induced hypertension- PIH') starts when the diastolic (second figure) goes to 90 or above, BUT they also compare your BP with that of your booking appointment BP and if there is a substantial rise, even if not above 90, this can be a sign of problems. This happened with my second pregnancy and as I'd also had PE in my first pregnancy this was an early sign that things weren't too good.

PIH can be successfully treated with medication but as it is linked to pre-eclampsia additional monitoring may be required (regular BP & protein in urine checks, growth scans, blood flow scans).

Try to stay as relaxed as possible (I'm a big believer in antenatal yoga) and eat as healthily as possible. Do talk to your midwife if you're worried and familiarise yourself with all symptoms of pre-eclampsia just in case.

Fingers crossed it is just a 'blip' (which certainly do happen!) and your BP settles down or at least stays the same. Good luck xxx

Madmumnika
Diastolic BP has gone up by 20 points since my booking. I think that is why the GP was concerned. Interesting that you say background stress does not always cause BP -I really hope I'm not heading towards a high risk pregnancy this time - I want a homebirth! Dh is fairly dismissive at this stage - he's a cardiologist. He'd want me to have a 24 hour tape before I had any treatment. Fingers crossed I won't need it...

Sounds like your DH would know as much about this as all of us! single BP measurements are notoriously variable (often due to changes in monitors used, operator etc.) and also BP varies a lot throughout the day. When I had BP monitoring in my last pregnancy the same midwife monitored me using the same manual monitor at roughly the same time in the afternoon. I agree that it's best to hold out as long as possible before starting BP meds. Is this your second pregnancy? The good news from the pre-eclampsia perspective is that it rarely strikes first time in a second, or later, pregnancy...But still worth being vigilant later in pregnancy (usually PE doesn't start until after 20 weeks gestation, though as I said before PIH which can be a pre-cursor can start earlier).

For the moment I'd try not to worry (much easier said than done) and try to find some activity that you enjoy and find relaxing and do even 20 mins of it each day, be it reading a book peacefully somewhere, gardening, bath etc.! Good luck xx

Madmumnika It is my third dc ..... dh knows too much, usually only sees the extreme end of things and is not good at treating his own family (not that you should do that anyway) I feel a lot calmer today than the other day so hopefully bp will be reflecting that.

Leonie - interesting. I'll see what happens in the next couple of weeks when I go back to be checked again. I don't really want to give up work tbh as I really enjoy it.