High Blood Pressure in Pregnancy

The force of the blood pushing against the walls of the arteries is called blood pressure that when becomes too high it is called hypertension, and may lead to the development of coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke and kidney disease.

It is estimated that up to 5% of pregnant women develop high blood pressure before they become pregnant, and another 5 to 8% develop high blood pressure during pregnancy. High blood pressure before pregnancy is called chronic hypertension, and during pregnancy is gestational hypertension that generally goes away shortly after delivery.

Although considered relatively normal, women who develop gestational hypertension have increased risk of developing hypertension later in life.

Although high blood pressure does not harm the baby, it may be a risk for the pregnant woman leading to some complications from mild to severe, harming the mother's kidneys and other organs. Depending on how high the pressure readings may be, it can cause low birth weight, premature birth, and stillbirth.

In severe cases, high blood pressure may develop preeclampsia, often referred as "toxemia of pregnancy", which threatens the lives of both the mother and the developing baby. Preeclampsia is a condition beginning after week 20 of pregnancy, and its related to increase in blood pressure and protein in the woman's urine.

Preeclampsia affects the mother's kidney, liver, placenta, and may also affect her brain. Preeclampsia can causes seizures, and then the condition becomes eclampsia, the second leading cause of maternal death in the United States . Although there is no known method to prevent preeclampsia, it can be closely monitored to lessen or even avoid other related problems.

Causes of preeclampsia are unknown, although triggered by high blood pressure. More often occurs in susceptible women who are having their first pregnancy, a family history of preeclampsia, under age 20 or over 35, is African-American, is overweight, or has a personal history of other high blood pressure related diseases before pregnancy.

Common signs of preeclampsia include severe headaches, swelling of the hands and face, dizziness, sudden weight gain, blurred vision and intense stomach pain. Pregnant women who develop preeclampsia beyond 37 weeks of pregnancy have only a few complications, which are easy to treat.

Woman with preeclampsia should consider, preferable, a vaginal delivery rather than a cesarean, because it avoids the added stresses of surgery that may trigger the high blood pressure.

In fact, women with hypertension may have epidural anesthesia for pain relief during labor and delivery. Doctors can treat severe preeclampsia and eclampsia with a drug called magnesium sulfate that helps prevent seizures during this last stage.