38 weeks & my pulse is slowing?

[cornballer]

Just a quickie Q, I'm trying to get through to my midwife but am just getting the answerphone at the moment..

Up until now I've had a really fast pulse (resting ~ 90-110bpm) and quite high blood pressure (~157/101) but I just noticed last night that my pulse has slowed down rather a lot - last night I counted it as 55bpm while I was in bed, now I've wandered round a bit and had some breakfast (normally it'd be really fast by now) but it is still only ~65 - 70bpm. I know a slow pulse is normal for fit people but I'm not particularly fit and have put on over 4.5 stone so far this pregnancy, plus my pulse has always been quite fast so for me this doesn't seem right.

Is it normal for the pulse rate to drop so dramatically towards the end of pregnancy? I can't really find anything on google, I can only find info about it being normal for the pulse to increase.

My ears are also feeling a bit 'swishy' and I'm quite breathless though these are probably general pregnancy things. I've felt baby move today, albeit very slowly but I am imagining that's to be expected at this stage.

Does anyone know whether this is something to be concerned about?

Not really sure but didn't want your post to go unanswered. 65-70 bpm is, as you say, quite normal for a moderately fit person. 55bpm is on the slow side, although you were lying down in bed so would expect to find it slightly slower. I think you need to pay attention to how you feel - and if it's making you breathless / wobbly - even though these could just be normal late preg symptoms - I'd get it checked out to be on the safe side. If midwife is not available could you call your out of hours GP service? Then you can usually discuss your symptoms direct with a dr and they will know what questions to ask to ascertain if there might be a problem. If they think you need to be assessed though they might just send you to A&E, as it's Sunday... Hope you feel better soon

In bed you're likely to have been relaxed and therefore your heart isn't having to work as hard which could account for the drop in pulse rate. Is the swishy sound new, are you more breathless than normal?