High blood pressure during pregnancy can be serious
However, most women with high blood pressure and those who develop preeclampsia have successful pregnancies.
Preeclampsia is a condition that is primarily caused by increased blood pressure and protein in the mother’s urine (as a result of kidney problems).
Preeclampsia affects the placenta and typically starts after the 20th week of pregnancy, and it can affect the mother’s kidney, liver, and brain.
When preeclampsia causes seizures, the condition is known as eclampsia– a leading cause of maternal death. Preeclampsia is also a leading cause of fetal complications, which include low birth weight, premature birth, and stillbirth.
Unfortunately, there is no single test to predict or diagnose preeclampsia. The main symptoms are; increased blood pressure and protein levels in the urine (proteinuria). Other symptoms that seem to occur with preeclampsia include persistent headaches, blurred vision or sensitivity to light, and abdominal pain.
However, all of these sensations can be caused by other disorders, and they can also occur in healthy pregnancies. So regular visits to your health professional to monitor your blood pressure and test the protein level in your urine will help detect signs of preeclampsia.
Those most at risk include:
– Women with chronic hypertension (high blood pressure before becoming pregnant).
– Women who developed high blood pressure or preeclampsia during a previous pregnancy, especially if these conditions occurred early in the pregnancy.
– Women who are obese prior to pregnancy.
– Pregnant women under the age of 20 or over the age of 40.
– Women who are pregnant with more than one baby.
– Women with diabetes, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or scleroderma.
Although, there is no proven way to prevent preeclampsia, you can lessen or avoid complications by closely monitoring your blood pressure and protein levels in the urine, with regular visits to your health professional. The only way to “cure” preeclampsia is to deliver the baby.
The good news is that, women with normal blood pressure who develop preeclampsia after the 20th week of their first pregnancy, usually find that the short-term complications such as high blood pressure goes away within about 6 weeks of childbirth.
The bad news is that, some women are more likely to develop high blood pressure or other heart disease later in life. However, more research is needed to determine the long-term health effects of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy and to develop better methods for identifying, diagnosing, and treating women at risk for these conditions.
Obtaining early and regular prenatal care is the most important thing you can do for you and your baby.
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Pregnancy
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Preventing Problems During Pregnancy
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Hormone Replacement Therapy
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Benefits of Weight Loss
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You owe it to yourself and loved one’s to learn more about the cause of high blood pressure in women, and how to manage blood pressure naturally.
Then you need to read this book, by New Zealand author, Dr. David Lovell-Smith.
In this book Dr. David Lovell-Smith describes how his patients successfully used diet, lifestyle changes and Transcendental Meditation to bring their blood pressure down.
This book offers new hope and insight for those with high blood pressure but it is not for hypertensives alone. The knowledge which Dr Lovell-Smith presents in his book is timely and relevant, and its exposition is long overdue.
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