Chronic high blood pressure and pregnancy
Women with chronic high blood pressure require special medical care before, during, and after their pregnancies.
- Some blood pressure medicines are not recommended for use when you are pregnant or breast-feeding. Talk to your health professional if you take blood pressure medicines and are pregnant or planning a pregnancy.
- High blood pressure (140/90 mm Hg or higher) during a pregnancy increases the risks of:
- Pre-eclampsia. Nearly 1 in 4 pregnant women with chronic high blood pressure will develop pre-eclampsia.1
- Fetal growth problems (intrauterine growth restriction, or IUGR).
- Placenta abruptio.
Many women with chronic high blood pressure need little or no medicine during pregnancy. Blood pressure usually falls during early pregnancy, so medicine is often not needed unless blood pressure increases to higher levels.
Undiagnosed chronic high blood pressure and pregnancy
High blood pressure is a disorder with few or no symptoms. When planning a pregnancy, see your health professional for a review of pregnancy risks, such as high blood pressure.
Women with elevated blood pressure during pregnancy receive frequent blood pressure readings, blood tests, and urine screens for signs of pre-eclampsia.
Typically, if a woman's blood pressure remains high for more than 12 weeks after delivery, she is likely to have ongoing (chronic) high blood pressure.1
| Author: | Shannon Erstad, MBA/MPH Carrie Henley | Last Updated: March 15, 2007 |
| Medical Review: | Joy Melnikow, MD, MPH - Family Medicine Anne C. Poinier, MD - Internal Medicine Gregory A L Davies, MD, FRCSC, FACOG - Maternal-Fetal Medicine William Gilbert, MD - Perinatology | |
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