Blood pressure during pregnancy is a very important indicator of the health status of a woman and her baby, so it must be measured regularly for all nine months.
The optimal measurement frequency is once a week. If you notice that the pressure has started to jump, then it should be monitored daily.
Pressure is considered normal if it is not greater than 140/90 and less than 100/60. Here it is necessary to take into account the initial value of blood pressure (BP), which was before pregnancy. Any organism is individual, therefore, if a woman's initial blood pressure was initially low, and for her it was considered normal, then the normal pressure for such a pregnant woman may be increased. These features should be reported to your doctor.
Low blood pressure during pregnancy
In the first trimester, due to hormonal changes in the body, pressure is often lower than normal, even with a normally developing pregnancy. Its slight decrease with good health, will not bring harm to either the child or the mother. But if the deviation is significant, and even accompanied by a headache, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, then you should be wary. Indeed, low blood pressure during pregnancy is dangerous for the baby, because as a result of circulatory disorders in the placenta, the fetus is deficient in the supply of oxygen and nutrients, i.e. begins to suffocate and feel hungry. Therefore, indicators of blood pressure should be closely monitored.
What to do if the pressure during pregnancy is below normal
To help the body and maintain normal pressure during pregnancy, you should adhere to the daily regimen: get enough sleep, sleep should be at least 8-9 hours, eat well, stay in the open air for a long time, and, if possible, perform simple physical exercises. What needs to be done if blood pressure dropped suddenly, nausea, dizziness, weakness appeared. First of all, you should open the windows to ensure airflow, lie down on the bed, relax tight clothes - unfasten the buttons, untie the belt. For such cases, you can carry a bottle of ammonia with you in order to have time to bring the fleece to your nose and avoid fainting. You can drink coffee with sugar, freshly brewed tea or take 25-30 drops of cordiamine.
If the pressure during pregnancy is constantly low - the indicators are below 90/60, this may be a sign of any disease. In this case, the pregnant woman is placed in a hospital and she, under the supervision of doctors, is prescribed medication.
High blood pressure during pregnancy
A double burden is placed on the cardiovascular system of the pregnant woman, because in her body the volume of circulating blood increases. The heart is forced to contract more often, and the pulse beat faster, so the pressure during pregnancy rises somewhat from 18-20 weeks, about 5-15 mm Hg compared with blood pressure at the beginning of the term. But increased pressure during pregnancy can also indicate the presence of certain diseases in the body. A woman should be alerted if blood pressure has risen from the first weeks of pregnancy, which should not be normal. This may indicate the presence of hypertension, kidney problems, and in the second half of pregnancy, talk about gestosis - late toxicosis, especially if accompanied by edema, large weight gain and the detection of protein in the urine. Therefore, gynecologists strictly monitor the pressure during pregnancy and the appearance of edema. In case of their occurrence, a salt-free diet is prescribed and it is recommended to limit fluid intake.
Gestosis leads to a malfunction of important systems and organs of a pregnant woman. As a result of these disorders, fluid is released from the blood vessels in the tissue, the volume of circulated blood decreases, the pressure drops, which leads to insufficient nutrition of the woman’s internal organs. To correct the situation, the body connects an additional arterial stimulation system to work. But this does not lead to the desired result: the higher the body tries to increase the pressure in the vessels, the more fluid from them goes into the soft tissues. The situation can end sadly for both the mother and the fetus. Therefore, it is so important to measure pressure during pregnancy, so that if it increases, even in the early stages, you can determine what affected its increase - a feature of the body during pregnancy, an exacerbated disease, or late toxicosis. And take action in time.
Pregnancy Pressure: Special Control
Particularly sensitive to the issue of blood pressure should be women at risk - pregnant women who are overweight, suffering from hypertension, hormonal disorders, diseases of the internal organs, as well as those women who in previous pregnancies experienced complications or had miscarriages. In addition to daily home blood pressure measurement, a doctor can prescribe 24-hour pressure monitoring for this category of pregnant women. This examination will help to identify jumps in blood pressure during the day - day and night. Daily monitoring is planned three times during the pregnancy period - in the first trimester to detect a tendency to hypotension, in the middle of the term - a critical period when gestosis can be detected, and before the birth itself. The procedure is safe, does not cause any particular inconvenience: the cuff is attached to the hand, and the device is attached to the belt, it is slightly larger in size than a mobile phone that records readings.
How to lower blood pressure during pregnancy
If before pregnancy you brought your blood pressure to normal with the help of tablets, then at the moment this method will not work, because many tablets are contraindicated for pregnant women. Therefore, you will have to use other, safe means to help reduce blood pressure during pregnancy. If you can get natural birch sap, you should drink it in a glass daily. Also reduces blood pressure cranberry mousse, pumpkin broth (without pulp, just drink the liquid), beetroot juice. It is necessary to take it daily 30 minutes before meals 2-3 times, no more than half a glass at a time, constantly making a new serving, because Freshly made juice is effective. Before use, let it stand without a lid for two hours.
To make sure that high blood pressure is caused by the condition of the body, and not by the disease, it is necessary to periodically measure it several times during the day. If there is no increased pressure for more than 5-6 hours per day in total, you should not sound the alarm, most likely the jump was affected by excitement, magnetic storms, physical activity or stress.
Is it possible to measure pressure at home
When planning a baby’s birth, if possible, it is better to purchase an individual tonometer to measure pressure during pregnancy. It is especially necessary for people prone to hypertension or hypotension in order to monitor the indicators daily, without visiting the clinic. If you do not have the skills to work with an old device in the form of a mercury column, it is better to purchase a new type of device, which is much easier and more convenient to use.
The result of measuring blood pressure depends on two main factors - the accuracy of the device itself and the ability to use it correctly. Therefore, when buying, you should pay attention to fine-tuning the tonometer. Periodically, to verify the correctness of the readings, you can verify the data by measuring blood pressure on other devices. It is recommended to measure pressure at one time, at rest, better at bedtime or in the morning, after waking up. If you are worried, it is better not to take the measurement - it will not be entirely reliable.
Is it always possible to believe the readings of the tonometer
By measuring the pressure on your own or in the clinic, it may happen that the tonometer data is below or above the norm. Do not panic, perhaps subjective reasons influenced the measurement results. Therefore, it is worth remembering what happened to you the day before.
A blood pressure monitor may show increased pressure if you measure:
- experienced stress, became nervous, long waiting for a turn to the doctor;
- drank strong tea or coffee, ate chocolate;
- were in a smoky room;
- climbed the stairs, walked quickly;
- took medicines or tinctures with ginseng, lemongrass, eleutherococcus;
- susceptible to "white coat syndrome", i.e. negatively react to the hospital environment.
A blood pressure monitor can show reduced pressure if you:
- blood pressure was measured incorrectly: the cuff was badly inflated and did not completely block the blood supply to the artery;
- Loosely laid the cuff to the arm;
- quickly released air from the cuff;
- measured blood pressure lying, not sitting, as usual.
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