How to get high blood pressure while pregnant?

Blood pressure is the force of blood that pushes against the walls of your arteries. Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood away from your heart to other parts of the body. Each time your heart beats, it pumps blood to the arteries. If the pressure in your arteries becomes too high, you have high blood pressure (also called hypertension). High blood pressure can put extra stress on your organs. This can lead to heart attack, heart failure, stroke and kidney failure.

Some women have high blood pressure before they get pregnant. Others have high blood pressure for the first time during pregnancy. About 8 in 100 women (8 percent) have some kind of high blood pressure during pregnancy. If you have high blood pressure, talk to your health care provider. Managing your blood pressure can help you have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.

How do you know if you have high blood pressure?

Your blood pressure reading is given as two numbers:

Your blood pressure reading fits into one of five categories:

At each prenatal care checkup, your provider checks your blood pressure. To do this, she wraps a cuff (band) around your upper arm. She pumps air into the cuff to measure the pressure in your arteries when the heart contracts and then relaxes. If you have a high reading, your provider can recheck it to find out for sure if you have high blood pressure. Your blood pressure can go up or down during the day.

What pregnancy complications can high blood pressure cause?

High blood pressure can cause problems for you and your baby during pregnancy, including:

Problems for moms include:

If you have high blood pressure during pregnancy, you’re also more likely have a cesarean birth (also called c-section). This is surgery in which your baby is born through a cut that your doctor makes in your belly and uterus.

Problems for babies include:

What kinds of high blood pressure can affect pregnancy?

Two kinds of high blood pressure that can happen during pregnancy:

During pregnancy, your provider checks your blood pressure and urine at every prenatal care checkup. She may use ultrasound and fetal heart rate testing to check your baby’s growth and health. Your provider may ask you to check your blood pressure at home and do kick counts to see when and how often your baby moves. Here are two ways to do kick counts:

We don’t know how to prevent gestational hypertension. But if you’re overweight or obese, getting to a healthy weight before pregnancy may lower your chances of having this condition. And even though gestational hypertension usually goes away after birth, you may be more likely to develop hypertension later in life. Healthy eating, staying active and getting to a healthy weight after pregnancy can help prevent high blood pressure in the future.

How can you manage high blood during pregnancy?

Here’s what you can do:

What can you do about high blood pressure before pregnancy?

If you’re pregnant, your doctor or nurse will likely check your blood pressure at every prenatal visit.

Blood pressure is the force of your blood as it pushes against artery walls while your heart pumps. It can go up or down at certain times of the day, and it may change if you’re feeling excited or nervous.

Your blood pressure reading reveals important information about the health of you and your baby. It can also be a way for your doctor to determine if you have another condition that needs to be checked out, like preeclampsia.

Changes that happen in your body during pregnancy can affect your blood pressure. When carrying a baby, your circulatory system expands quickly, which may cause a drop in blood pressure.

It’s common for your blood pressure to lower in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy.

• Avoid getting up quickly when you're seated or lying down.
• Don't stand for long periods of time.
• Eat small meals throughout the day.
• Don't take very hot baths or showers.
• Drink more water.
• Wear loose clothing.