If you have high blood pressure, or hypertension, your heart has to work harder to pump the blood around your body. This can lead to weakening of the heart muscle.
Hypertension affects around 10%-15% of pregnancies. There are different types of hypertension in pregnancy, including:
- if you already have high blood pressure (chronic hypertension)
- pregnancy-related high blood pressure (gestational hypertension) and pre-eclampsia
If you already have high blood pressure
Some women have chronic hypertension. In other words, they already have high blood pressure before they become pregnant. This condition affects 1%-3% of pregnancies, which means that out of every 100 pregnant women, one to three of them will have had high blood pressure before pregnancy.
Some drug treatments for high blood pressure are not recommended in pregnancy. If you are taking tablets it is important to see your doctor to find out whether you need to change to other drugs before you become pregnant.
If you take drugs to lower your blood pressure, this can also reduce the blood flow to the placenta and to your baby. It is important that your antenatal team monitors you closely to ensure that the growth of your baby remains normal. Make sure you go to all your antenatal appointments with the midwife or doctor.
Find out more about what the placenta is.
Your treatment
While the type of treatment you are given will depend on the cause of your high blood pressure, the key to a healthy pregnancy is to ensure that your blood pressure remains under control. Again, having check-ups with your antenatal team is the best way to monitor your condition.
Pre-eclampsia, a blood-pressure condition caused by pregnancy, is more common if you have high blood pressure before becoming pregnant, or if you have had pre-eclampsia in a previous pregnancy. If this applies to you, attending regular check-ups to have your blood pressure and urine tested is even more important.
High blood pressure as a result of pregnancy
Pregnancy-induced hypertension, or gestational hypertension, affects 5%-10% of pregnancies. This means that out of 100 pregnant women, 5 to 10 women will develop high blood pressure in pregnancy. This is gestational hypertension, or high blood pressure caused by the extra stress pregnancy places on your body.
Find out more about pregnancy-induced hypertension and pre-eclampsia.
Pre-eclampsia
Pre-eclampsia affects 2-5% of pregnancies. If untreated, it can lead to seizures (having fits) and, on rare occasions, the mother’s death.
Healthtalkonline has videos of women talking about their experiences of having other conditions in pregnancy, including pre-eclampsia.
Find out more about what happens in labour, and your options for pain relief.
