Midwife measuring blood pressure wrong?

[AprilBaby2025]

I am 18 weeks pregnant.

I have severe health anxiety, including a blood pressure phobia. It developed when I was a kid and has been ingrained in me ever since. I have severe fear of getting my BP measured, whether it's at home or at a doctor's office. As a result, I avoid the doctor's unless absolutely necessary. Before this pregnancy, I haven't been in 10 years. In both midwife appointments I've had, I broke down crying due to my anxiety. My midwife as been great though.

I am 30, healthy weight and lifestyle.

I have OCD and use to be obsessed with checking my BP. I would have it on my arm for 8-10 hours a day. When I would try to calm down, my systolic would go down a lot on my home monitor and be normal, but the diastolic (low number) would be high (in the 90s).

I have had 2 appointments with my midwife. One a month ago and one this morning. I was freaking out during both appointments of course, although weirdly seemed even more scared today than last time. She takes my BP with an automatic cuff and a stethoscope. The reading last month was 120/84. And this time it was 130/80 (down from 140 when she initially took it). Taken near the end of the appointment. I was still very nervous. I seemed to calm down near the end of the first appointment. But the appointment today I was a ball of nerves the entire time. I was pleasantly surprised with that reading given how nervous I felt.

Anyways, my question is, could my midwife have taken the BP incorrectly? I am just surprised and expecting the bottom number to be a lot higher. Dumb question, but should I trust my midwife's BP measurement more than my home automatic monitor?

OP, you need to get comfortable with the unknown here and with OCD asking for reassurance is not going to help you.

Did you ever see a counsellor for your OCD? Did they give you any coping techniques you can employ? If not, suggest you see if your midwife can arrange a referral for you to get support.

OP, you already know this is nothing to do with whether or not the midwife could have made a mistake taking your BP.

This level of anxiety and OCD sounds debilitating. Have you spoken to anyone about it? Have you considered anything like hypnosis or therapy of some sort? Breathing or other coping techniques etc?
I can't imagine when you go into labour and have to deal with this extra stress on top of everything else.

Op, I mean this kindly but this is your anxiety talking and the irrational part of your mind is looking for problems that aren't there.
You've made quite a few of these same posts, specifically about your blood pressure worries. Did your midwife refer you to the perimental health team? Do you speak to your midwife about your anxiety at your appointments?

I would find it absolutely unbelievable that a qualified midwife couldn't do something as simple as taking a blood pressure, so to answer your question, yes I would trust that your midwife is able to do this simple task.

Yes I am in therapy. Actually have an appointment today. I have started doing 20 minutes of mindfulness meditation with abdominal breathing everyday for the past couple of weeks. Also recently started Zoloft.

Yes, my midwife is aware of this anxiety and has been amazing. She referred me to a public health nurse who called me last week and scheduled a visit with me next week. At that visit I think she will decide what resources will best fit me.

I really feel for you, I was referred to the pedimental health team earlier on in my pregnancy due to birth trauma so I really hope it helps you.

The stethoscope method is much more reliable than a machine, so I would trust your midwife’s reading OP

Are you sure the diastolic was that high. I'd expect it to be lower. I think it's unlike an experienced midwife has got it wrong. She's doing it multiple times a day.

Just be happy it’s lower as you want and stop questioning a professionals ability to take blood pressure which is a really simple task

I'd suggest for future appointments, you ask the MW to not show you the monitor, so you can't see the numbers?

She didn't show me. She told me afterwards. And it was a manual cuff so I don't see the numbers going up or anything.

Many automatic BP machines are not validated for use during pregnancy, so stop using it at home as the readings won’t be correct.

I had a fear of such things too, not as extreme as yours. But during pregnancy I've really overcome it. I think the mindfulness and breathing will help a lot. I close my eyes when I'm getting it done and just focus on my breathing. Also remind myself I'm doing this for my baby and that I'm not going to let an irrational fear stop me. At the end of the day it is an irrational fear, and it is only us who can overcome it, nobody can do it for us. Keep positive with your progress.