How high is high blood pressure when pregnant?

[aswellasyou]

I've been to see the nurse today and asked her to check my blood pressure as I was previously told it was a bit high compared to most pregnant women's. It was around 140/80 before but today it was 153/88. I have to go back on Friday so she'll check it again then but she was 'too busy' to talk to me about it today. I assume I will be tested for protein in my urine at my next midwife appointment in 3 weeks.

I just wondered if anyone knew how high is considered dangerous. Assuming I don't have protein in my urine, is it still dangerous to be this high?

I'm especially worried about this because I'm moving back to my home city in June/July and don't want to end up hospitalised where I am now with very few friends and no family around.

I hope someone has some information for me.

i think its important that you call your midwife and tell her whats happened, as that is a high blood pressure, and the nurse should have spoken to you about it, you need to be checked properly for preeclampsia with a BP like that.

do NOT wait 3 weeks to have this checked out, you might not have any other symptoms of preeclampsia, but you certainly need to be checked out. call the local midiwves and make sure you speak to someone tomorrow latest, they can see you and check your urine, blood pressure, bloods etc.
do you have any other symptoms like swelling, headache etc?

Mine tends to be at the higher end of normal and goes up and down for no apparent reason. A lower number in the high 80s is okay for someone like me but would obviously be far more of a cause for concern in a woman who usually had much lower readings.

I think the cut-off point for further investigation is a lower number of 90 or possibly 100. Mine has gone as high as 150/110 with no problems. (It was investigated but no real cause found). I had to spend a morning as an outpatient having my blood pressure taken at regular intervals to get a blood-pressure profile but that was all.

Obviously if you have concerns it's always best to get it checked out though, even if only to give you peace of mind.

Thankyou both for your replies.

I will call the midwife tomorrow to ask her about it. I imagine she'll ask me to do blood and urine samples on Friday when I go to see the nurse. I don't have any other symptoms so it probably isn't anything too sinister right now, but you're both right that I should be checked out anyway.

It hadn't occurred to me before, but possibly the fact that I'm just finishing a major project, about to start exams and am moving 100 miles away soon-all while worrying about my baby's health-may be causing some underlying stress that I'm ignoring at the moment. Hopefully that's all it is anyway.

Thankyou both again.

Mine was 110/90 last time I saw the doctor (my normal blood pressure is around 110/70) and I got a stern talking to about not overdoing it. I'm still working full time and my doctor threatened to put me in hospital for enforced rest if the blood pressure gets any higher. I think it was just to scare me, but it worked! MW is coming tomorrow and I've been resting up most of the weekend so we'll see if it has made any difference.

I've been under huge amounts of stress, both work related and financial, for much of this pregnancy and I do wonder if it's all caught up on me.

i get so cross on this subject. yes they have to be diligent in looking for signs of pre-eclampsia, but the more they test the blood pressure the more wound up you get worrying about it. i find myself actually tensing up when she goes to take my BP because i know it was a problem last time round, i try not to but anxiety is extremely hard to control because its an automatic response.
and when they send you for 'further assessment', you spend hours sitting around waiting to be seen, have to re-explain your reasons for being there several times, have to wee in those tiny pots loads, all the while worrying about your health/the baby's health/the dc you have at home/the things not getting done while you're at the hospital, sitting.
blood pressure is soooo affected by stress, even the smallest amount of anxiety can put it up. i wish they'd consider this first instead of panicing people about pre-eclampsia.
personally, i invested in a machine to have at home (not that expensive at all really), so that i could take my own BP at regular intervals in my own environment on my own terms, write it down, and show it to the midwife at each visit. i was induced last time because my BP was thru the roof, but im a wiser bird now and am determind to have a nice natural birth - minimal doctors, minimal stress.

They get concerned once the lower number gets over 90. So you are high & by the sounds of it, it is increasing.

Don't assume anything...ask to see your midwife sooner for urine test, explain that your bp was high & you need reassurance.

Protein & high bp = pre eclampsia. But you don't need both for it to be PE.

Other symptoms incl

Headaches that don't go within a reasonable amount of time with painkillers

Swelling of the hands/feet can be normal in pregnancy, swelling of the face is not & is a common symptom of PE

Visual disturbances

Pain under the ribcage that feels like heartburn, but doesn't go with remedies

Sudden onset nausea

alannabanana, I do understand what you are saying, but it isn't always caused by stress!

I had no idea what my care team were concerned about with dd1 pregnancy, because they never told me...(useless really). Protein showed up week after week, but all I was told, was they would "keep an eye on it"!

I had headaches ("oh that's normal, pregnant women get headaches"), was constantly sick ("oh that's normal, pregnant women get nausea" was swelling up like no ones business ("oh that's normal, pregnant women get swelling")

Not until my useless midwife referred me to see a consultant did I think anything may not be right. On the 2nd cons visit my bp was 140/110. I wasn't stressed/worried etc, as for all I knew I had a little protein in my urine!

I'd second getting it checked out.

I had no symptons of pre eclampsia other than swollen hands and feet. However when tested my bp was about 150/90 and I had a lot of protein in my urine - please get checked out quickly.

The protocol in our area is to refer for bloods if bottom number is 100+, or 90+ WITH protein in urine.

I was induced at 35 weeks when mine hit 100/170

170/100 rather!

100/170??? fucking hell! are those numbers definitely the right way around? cor, no wonder they induced you!

differentname - i hope you dont mind me saying but your care sounds crap! i can't believe you had all those symptoms and they did nothing - sounds like no-one wanted to actually take responsibilty for you and kept passing the buck. so what happened in the end?

i think i am biased because my midwife did TOO much - i never had any protein or headaches or any other symptoms apart from high BP and she still sent me off to see consultants/assessment unit etc - i even got admitted to the antenatal ward for overnight monitoring, which did nothing to lower my BP because there was a poor neglected labouring woman in the bed next to me who was in terrible pain and needed her hand held - i got NO sleep that night!

OP i have very similar BP to you (am 19 weeks) my MW says (and this echoes my last pregnancy) that they worry more about the bottom number and worried would be for anything over 90. She also did say that the top figure was high but they wouldn't be worried until it was up at 160. she was happy with a 4 weeks gap between appointments...

if it helps last time i was PG at around 33 weeks it was consistently 140/90 or above and i spent a few stays in hospital being monitored and having to do 24 hour urine collections both in hospital and at home. Nothing was found, i just seem to have naturally high BP. But they did prepare me for induction at 37 weeks (gave me the steroid injection for baby's lungs etc).... DD came of her own accord at 36 weeks

It also depends on what is normal for you. I have high BP normally but they won't let me go any higher than MY normal BP .

Yes, they'll compare to your booking BP, and that is significant.

I second the idea of getting your own BP cuff. My readings were always lower at home and at the midwives' clinic than at the hospital. I was hospitalised three times with my first son and my BP was always normal outside the ward.

It was a vicious circle!

My son was born at 7lb 5oz, very healthy.

But obviously they have to be very careful. Not worth taking risks.

i also have an at home BP checker, so i can check it when im all relaxed so i can have my own readings. i managed to get one of offer from the local pharmacy for £14.99, brilliant bargain.

im particularly biased on the subject as i had preeclampsia with DD1, and i have a family history - my mum had preeclampsia when pregnant with my brother and at the birth (which was induced at 37weeks) ended up having a fit and died briefly, so i get rather nervous when it comes to symptomms, but for me with my and my family history, its the right thing to do.

I would agree with everyone else - get a home BP monitor (about £20 in Boots/Lloyds) and do go back to midwife today...better to be safe than sorry.

I had pre eclampsia in last pregnancy, was hospitalised at 39 weeks, delivered early via induction at 39+5 when my BP got to 148/106...and I had protein in urine... no other symptoms..only found high BP/protein at standard midwife appt...

Currently 23+5 with next DC and am monitoring self twice daily..... good luck.

alannabanana Unfortunately, the anxiety isn't my problem. I borrowed my Dad's BP machine for about a month or so and recorded it each day and it was just as high as the readings taken by doctors and midwives. I do agree though. My (very anxious) Mum was given a machine that tested hers every half hour but actually went off every 15 minutes, so she was always prepared for it happening and started panicking about the pain at 14 minutes. They told her she should be seen in hospital but she just ignored them because she knew it wasn't really a problem.

My blood pressure used to be around 110/75 ish so this is a strange change for me. It hadn't been taken for well over a year though so I don't know if it was higher before I got pregnant. The first time I had it checked was at my first scan at 13 weeks. I'm now about 23 weeks so understandably worried that, if it is preeclampsia, I might find myself being induced very early on.

I spoke to the midwife earlier and there's no way I can see her this week. She asked about other symptoms, and seen as I don't have any of them, she said just have the tests done with the nurse on Friday. I'm looking forward to moving so I can use a surgery where you don't have to wait 2 weeks (no exaggeration) to see a GP and a week to see a nurse. I didn't get an appointment with my midwife until 17 weeks after first trying at 10 weeks.
Whinge over.

Thankyou for your advice. I'm going to steal my Dad's BP machine back.

aswellas, if you are worried & can't see the midwife, call your local labour & del ward. They are usually happy to have you drop in for checks etc.

Hope all is OK!

I would ditto all the above - go and get checked again. My BP is normally on the high side, 120/80, but when pregnant with DD it just kept rising from 38 weeks onwards, until I hit 170/120, at which point they were concerned as I had 3+ protein....but I was already in early labour so they gave me the hormone drip and an instrumental delivery to get DD out asap.

DD arrived and wasnt well, and my BP didn't come down, cue a year taking beta blockers to keep things under control. Fine now though.

So please, do go and get checked. Your midwives would rather see you and send you away healthy than take any risks!

I gather they start twitching at 140/90 although they also take into consideration your booking BP with the bottom number being the important one. I think you get about a window of 30 on top of your booking in BP.

I'm also trying to keep mine down as it's bobbing around the 85-90 level and I want a home birth. I know it's higher at the appointments because I stress about it. I've taken to arriving at appt's half an hour early and doing breathing/relaxation in the waiting room!!!!

Also, I'm trying all the "complementary" methods of keeping BP down. No idea if they work or not, but at least I'll know I'll have tried everything. So - a couple of garlic oil capsules a day, increasing aerobic activity (e.g. two 40min walks a day instead of me being fairly sedentary!), no caffeine, drinking enough fluids including lots of orange / cranberry juice as high in Vit C (I'm bad at keeping hydrated - but too much fluid is bad for BP too), not eating high fat, hard to digest food before appointments, eating foods high in potassium (like bananas), and I think I'm eating enough Rennies to ensure I'm getting all the calcium I need anyway! I gather exercise is the best option with up to 10 points reduction but it needs four weeks to kick in (although biggest change is in first week) and needs to be kept up. The rest are all bring about pretty minimal changes, I gather - but hey, if they all bring about another point change for the good and I get my homebirth, then I'll be happy.

Oh - and there's anecdotal evidence for fish oil helping keep it down too.

And Q10 supplement.

And Holland & Barrett must love me and my clutching at straws!

140/90 or above in either number is considered hypertension normally...and your "normal" bp should be lower when pregnant anyway.

I've had high bp in my 2 pregnancies and was induced at 38 weeks in the second (not because the baby's health was threatened, but because I couldn't stay awake on the strong bp medication I was on and look after a toddler at the same time). The consultant told me that the earliest he had ever seen anyone with pre-eclampsia was 26 weeks - and apparently this was a lady with other acute medical problems. So, basically I wouldn't worry at all about having pre-eclampsia at 23 weeks. However they will monitor your bp if it's on the high side. High bp in itself does not cause and is not an indicator of pre-eclampia, that's why the protein in urine and blood tests, swelling etc are important too. I think it would be sensible to get a home bp machine but testing yourself every day is going a bit over the top and will only make you worry and obsess, which will, believe me, put the reading up! Get it checked with your midwife on Fri and then check it yourself weekly. Good luck!