Stories from others who had hypertension and/or pre eclampsia

[2025M]

As the title says really, had a very easy pregnancy right up until around 28 weeks where I felt a bit odd at times.

By 33 weeks I had hypertension and suspected pre eclampsia. I had no symptoms, just tests showed it and was a little swollen.

My normal BP isn't great, on the higher side of normal. I am not on medication as i am told it's not needed. Everyone in my family runs "high", some eventually are on medication.

I had a hospital stay with the blood pressure forced on me twice which ultimately led to being induced at 37 plus a few days.

Staying in hospital, having constant medication for high bp changes (there was disagreement from the staff about levels of mg to give including a mini fight between 2 consultants), broken blood pressure machines used giving wrong results, blood pressure readings being taken too often etc. Was incredibly stressful.

It made the blood pressure a lot lot worse and I never want to repeat that part again!

Now I have a daughter i especially don't want extended hospital stays etc. I'd rather go on home monitoring, or attend a clinic 10min from my house and bed rest etc.

Has anyone got any light for me, as we want 1 more child but it's already making me quite anxious remembering the end first time round.

I was told several mistakes were made (by a midwife reviewing my case), so I have more knowledge now, but it's still a worry.

So I am currently pregnant with my second after pre-eclampsia with my first so I can't answer everything but can share the info I've been given so far.

With my first I believe I started to develop symptoms around 30 weeks but my concerns were dismissed until 36 weeks by which time I was really ill. I'd started to develop HELLP, needed a magnesium protocol induction and felt so ill. Not to mention being bed bound for 4 days because of the magnesium induction and then staying in hospital for 3 days after she was born (they kept coming up with new reasons we couldn't go home).

I am now under a different trust for this pregnancy and have explained at my booking appointment what I felt happened. They have recommended 150mg aspirin from 12 weeks to try and help avoid another pre eclampsia diagnosis.

I am monitoring my own BP and urine at home (part of where I think issues arose in my care) and midwives are aware of this.

This pregnancy is being managed under a high risk pathway because of the previous pre-eclampsia as well as the PPH I had after delivery.

I will have consultant appointments from 24 weeks and growth scans from 32 as there is some argument my baby was growth restricted. I don't agree that she was, but will accept the scans for the information.

I'm only 15 weeks at the moment so a lot around delivery is unknown. This midwife team seem a lot more open to conversation, talking things through, listening and not dismissing so thay is progress.

Now that you've had it once, I'm assuming they finally found the right medication/dosage to get it under control? If so, there could be room for discussion around going straight on that, with regular monitoring at home/at the local clinic. I totally get what you mean about not wanting the extended hospital stays though.

They may also recommend aspirin for you as well when you do fall pregnant.

I think we need to be clear that pre-eclampsia and high BP are different. I’ve not had suspected PE but I did have BP issues in both pregnancies. I think if you have PE it is an immediately high risk situation and you just need to go along with all recommendations to ensure the health of you and your baby. If someone wants to correct me… feel free… I haven’t experienced it.

First pregnancy was as you describe with hospital stay etc although I went into labour before induction. It was traumatic, especially the hospital stay and being constantly woken on a busy ward for monitoring when I was heavily pregnant. My eldest is 14 now but I remember telling DH I would be too exhausted to give birth.

In my second pregnancy I explained all this to the midwife at booking on. I felt it was inevitable it would happen again. I saw a Dr who prescribed BP medication from about 30 weeks. It worked really well for me. There are a range of BP medications suitable for pregnancy. I had my urine dipped more regularly to check for protein. It avoided all the panic.

To summarise my experience was that the hypertension repeated itself but it was far better managed the second time round as the issue was dealt with earlier and via medication at an earlier stage.

Good luck to you… my heartfelt advice is not to let this put you off another child.

@Lollystar15has posted in the time it took to type my reply. Clearly her situation was a lot more serious than mine but I note the similar experience of it being better managed the second time.

Hope this pregnancy is easier for you @Lollystar15.

Hi had PE first time round. Quote scary and similar story to yours. Didn't happen at all second time.

I had PE. Family history of it meant I was high risk but it still came as a shock in ways. Symptoms from around 30 weeks such as blurred vision, headache, swelling, feeling generally terrible and panicky but I ‘soldiered on’ at work. Went to MAU a few times but never really taken seriously enough- I don’t think I was great at explaining symptoms and didn’t know how to advocate for myself. Each time I just wanted to get home!
After 36 week appointment my protein urine levels were extremely high and blood pressure too. Admitted to hospital and given drugs and emcs a week later. By this point I felt extremely unwell.
Baby born but clearly wasn’t ready for the world- so sleepy and weak. Struggled to feed and kept her eyes shut for weeks. No NICU though and we got there eventually.

The whole thing felt scary. Doctors seemed to move at snails pace (I guess just overworked on busy ward) but the moment I was a priority and at high risk, they moved like lightning. Postnatal ward experience was hideous with so little proper medical support or checking.

Ttc again now with some pregnancy losses. I’m going into potential next pregnancy with hope- I will use my experience to advocate better for myself and my baby. I will be consultant led and will push for more monitoring and ask more questions. Your experience is power. I also have had some therapy to help process it and realise how I can approach it with more hope and use my experience.

I have pre existing high BP. Did then have PE for child one (had a c-section as she was breech and then stayed in 5 days while they sorted my bp through right dose - no idea why but they started me on a lower dose than I had pre-pregnancy so was never going to work!), but not for child 2. After birth of child two it did shoot up (i think they gave it a name like post eclampsia or something) and had to go to hospital to get it sorted - was just there 5 hours or so then allowed home with midwife coming to my house daily for checking for the first few days.

my point is it might not happen but if it does advocate for yourself but safely. Ask if it’s safe to monitor at home etc.

I had PE with a very similar story to yours nearly 20 years ago. I am very sad things haven't changed, that's appalling.

The stats say if you've had it once there's only a slightly elevated chance youll get it again, like 15% more likely than anyone else. I think they are good odds and you'll be ultra vigilant.

I hope you and your baby are doing well.

I had quite severe pre eclampsia with my son 5 years ago, I’m currently almost 34 weeks pregnant with my daughter and it hasn’t came on in this pregnancy yet. You’re higher risk but it’s not certain you’ll get it again- they’ll also put you on aspirin to reduce the chances even more.

I wasn't clear in my original message. So it's an odd situation of not actually being sure which it was. Because 2 of the consultants disagreed as only one urine result was taken, no more were taken and it only appeared in one as pre eclampsia. But in my post birth review 4 months later i had i was told by the "reviewing midwife" she was not convinced on ot beong pre eclampsia and wondered if it was hypertension but misdiagnosed or confused. My on the day in person discharge was given pre eclampsia statistics of 2% second time round 7% first time and told "just bad luck".

All in all I'm non the wiser but presuming it was hypertension??

From that then I'd assume hypertension. The only definitive way to diagnose pre eclampsia is a blood test. I'd argue if they didn't do that, they can't have been that convinced that was the issue (which sounds about right given they were arguing.

Can I ask you how i felt, as i was constantly being asked about blurred vision, massive swelling etc. And was being checked late on due to high BP and 1 urine result.

From around i guess 35 weeks i was feeling very odd at times. I thought it was normal as i asked a midwife who said "what do you expect, your almost full term, it's rough", so i kept quiet.

My odd feelings (before being hospitalised for the BP and pre eclampsia urea/protein result in urine) were feeling my heart bit a bit more than normal, feeling that i walked a mountain when just walking around a garden centre, on occasion feeling that i 'had' "to sit down. Not wanted to, 'had' to sit down. Feeling extremely tired on some days, almost like 1st trimester occasional extreme fatigue. Finally feeling a bit spacy/out of body. Do these feelings sound like yours?

This is what i did wonder, they were arguing and discharged me as pre eclampsia and gave those statistics.

It was only about 2 months post birth when i was digesting everything i read up and mine didn't sound like those text book cases. And in the 4 month post birth reflection the midwife said as above she wasn't sure, but did say I was blood pressure checked too often and with the wrong machines on the ward, also given incorrect mg. Example was after birth in the days over i think i was given too many as i felt as though i was falling backwards.

I also was switched between labetalol and nifedipine. Interested if someone who has a good experience with controlling Blood Pressure found one of those "better"? It was consultant number 4 on day 8 of stay in that asked if anyone had tried another brand. Their answer was of course no, i was then switched onto the other one.

Has your BP returned to normal since?

I had diagnosed PE with DC2 but not DC1 which I was told was unusual. I didn’t have BP issues before or after DC2 was born but 2 years PP my BP is back up again which I have been told can happen.

I think OP if it happened once it could happen again but at least this time you will be better prepared for how to deal with it (and perhaps more assertive?). I was hospitalised for 2 weeks prior to DC being born at 35 weeks (induction because they couldn’t control my BP) and my observations/ medications were also not dealt with in well. I had to remind the nurses to check my BP at times and ask for another nurse/ manual BP check (I no longer trust the machines!)/ medication review, etc.

@2025M I was on Labetalol and Nifedipine. They seemed to work best in combination for me, but my BP was very high and unstable. Labetalol alone was not enough.

I had PE with DC1 - felt awful but as it was my first, I wasn’t sure what it was. It took a while to diagnose as they thought it was a dvt at first. I was induced, had a prolonged and traumatic birth and then developed it postpartum too. I was in hospital for ages and on medication.

I was high risk with DC2, put on aspirin and under the care of a consultant. I had growth scans from 32 weeks. Everything was fine though, I didn’t develop PE and I had a much better birth / overall experience!

Before mine was around 130 to 140 over 90 when going to the doctors for contraceptive pill checks (white coat syndrome i guess). Know one said anything.

One of the highest hospital readings from memory was 170/185 over 120? I remember bottom number being high and this was the number they focused on.

I opted for a blood pressure 24 hour check with a machine attached to me at home last month and it averaged 126 over 90 which they said was fine.

It was very high at points post hospital discharge, but it was always when i was being visited by midwifes or when they got their bp machine out as they would say to me, remember if it's high you're going back to hospital! No pressure then 😅😬

When I was finally left alone for 1 week it started dropping. By a month it lowered even further. At 6 weeks i was told to come off the blood pressure medication.8

I’ve always had a normal blood pressure. On the lower side if anything. My first pregnancy (son is 2.5 years old) I had high blood pressure from the start. 140/80s. It got worse and worse, and I was so swollen. I actually wasn’t checked on properly at all. I was told you’re probably nervous. It’s hot that’s why you’re swollen (my feet didn’t fit in shoes, my legs hurt and my face was double in size). I also had severe pain in my right ribs, again just constantly told probably baby’s position. I was induced at 42 weeks, at which point the hospital said I have preeclampsia and my blood pressure was so high during my induction I lost vision a few times during early labour from the severe pressure at the back of my eyes. Birth was then very complicated and ended in a cat 1 c section under general anaesthetic. Took a year post partum to get my bp below 150/90. So I would’ve actually appreciated the monitoring and care even though it would’ve added anxiety I think the risk me and my son were at due to it not being monitored and going so overdue. Fast forward I’m now pregnant (6 months) baby number 2. I had a birth after thoughts meeting before trying again, to understand all the complications and high blood pressure etc. having more knowledge around it I just felt more prepared this time if I was to have it. Also because of it I’ve been on 150 mg of aspirin from my booking appointment and I’m consultant led. I feel very well looked after this time, without being ignored or overbearing having them flap if that makes sense? Just so happens my blood pressure is real low this time haha, to the point of feeling faint! I know it can still change, but it is still very different to my first already. So it does go to show every pregnancy is different. But I would highly recommend doing a births after thoughts meeting, you can request this. And then get advice based on your first experience on how to plan around that for a future pregnancy. I was set on one and done after my experience the first time, even the anxiety of the high blood pressure for a year after. But once I had that meeting and then had facts and information to research, I felt confident enough to go for a second. And I will say it’s made this pregnancy a lot more enjoyable and relaxed. Even if previous complications arise again, I just feel more prepared if that makes sense? Also has taught me to massively advocate for myself too this time round. You have every right to push back and say I feel this is making this worse, I’m going home and will monitor there and come back if it doesn’t come down in x time. When you feel more in control it doesn’t feel as stressful, and you do have a lot more say in how it is all handled than you think, I’d really recommend researching how to advocate for yourself too. I hope this helps.

Yes exactly this. Just felt unusual extreme exhaustion, panic, fast heavy heart, not myself and impending doom. All stuff it’s hard to describe as you just sound a bit anxious but otherwise normal end of pregnancy symptoms

I had pre-eclampsia in both my pregnancies.

Both times it was quite mild and didn't show up until 34 weeks. I took aspirin both times. 75mg (from 12 weeks) and 150mg (from BFP) respectively. I have normal BP usually, and no family history of pre-eclampsia, so it came as a bit of a surprise. Less so the second time around.

They were pretty much the same experience both times. No physical symptoms and I felt fine throughout. Just high BP, proteinuria and elevated liver enzymes found at a regular midwife appointment. I was admitted at 36 weeks for monitoring, put on labetalol and induction scheduled for 37 weeks. The labetalol worked, though my BP continued to try to rise despite it.

Hospital stays don't bother me, but obs every 4 hours was draining. Eventually induction and labour was over, and I had my babies.

We both had to stay in for two nights to make sure postpartum eclampsia didn't set in, and also to check baby's blood sugars. First time around I went home with labetalol for 6 weeks, though I'm not convinced I really needed it. Second time, the medication was making my BP go low, so it was stopped before I was discharged.

This is so relieving to hear, I was being asked a lot about rib pain, swelling, vision etc. Up to 5 times a day. I tried to explain it wasn't any of this and when I tried to explain it was written off mostly as late pregnancy normality /anxiety.

Exactly as you describe is how I felt at the 35 week mark onwards.

Can I ask how long you had to stay in once admitted? It's good to again hear that monitoring, aspirin etc. Is in place.

Did you find second time round as you were more clued up, you were able to cope better? And as others said able to advocate?

Total time admitted? Or until induction started?

With my first I was admitted on a Thursday. Induction started 6 days later on the following Wednesday, and had my baby the next day. Then went home Saturday afternoon for 9 days total admission.

With my second I was admitted on a Tuesday. Induction, once again, started 6 days later on the following Monday. Delivery suite on Friday. Baby born on Saturday. Home Monday afternoon. Total of 13 days admission. Not ideal, but it was the later days of COVID, and a particularly busy time too.

I found the diagnosis a huge shock the first time around. I had put all my efforts into preparing to go over due, that needing to go early hadn't even been on my radar. Second time around I was prepared for the possibility. It was more of a grim resignation that it was happening again when it was confirmed.

As I knew what my stay was likely to entail, and its that it would be slightly over a week, I'd appropriately pre-packed my hospital bag for the possibility. Advocating for myself I've never really found to be an issue, so it was never a problem either time. I asked about alternatives and other options and talked with the doctors and midwives about them. The main issue was that my liver enzymes were elevated in both pregnancies, and they were worried I could slip into HELLP quickly. It was better for both baby and I to remain in hospital for monitoring. A sobering experience in my second stay cemented it when one of the other ladies on the ward unexpectedly suffered an eclamptic fit.

I made the best of each stay I could. I got off the ward often (always staying within well lit, populated areas), and had plenty of small joys (own pillow and blanket, chocolates, books etc.) to keep me comfortable and entertained. There was the odd emotional wobble (especially during the induction delay), but on the whole it was ok. Getting enough sleep at night was key.

Thank you for your detailed response. I think that you are right in terms of acceptance if it happens again and also it's not "forever". I think that my over 2 week stay was compounded by being placed under a high intensity dementia ward and the birthing rooms. Night times were particularly difficult with the noises, screaming and alarms etc.

I was in for a long time partly while a decision was made, even though I was at the 37 week mark. I think that this time it would be an elective casesarean recommendation.

There's a lot of positive stories to my original post though, including home monitoring, consultant led and correct medication so I feel like it is manageable if something happens again. Thanks to all that posted and if anyone thinks of anything else, please let me know!