Doctor for Hypertension In Pregnancy in Rohini

What is Hypertension In Pregnancy?

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is defined as blood pressure greater than or equal to 130/80 mm Hg. The condition is a serious concern for some pregnant women. When it’s well-managed, high blood pressure during pregnancy isn’t always dangerous. But it can sometimes cause severe health complications for both mother and developing baby.

What Causes Hypertension During Pregnancy?

There are several possible causes of high blood pressure during pregnancy.

• being overweight or obese
• not getting enough physical activity
• smoking
• drinking alcohol
• first-time pregnancy
• a family history of pregnancy-related hypertension
• carrying more than one child
• age (over 35)
• having diabetes or certain autoimmune diseases

Types of pregnancy-related blood pressure conditions

High blood pressure during pregnancy can be divided into three different conditions.

• Chronic hypertension   : Sometimes a woman has preexisting high blood pressure, or hypertension, before she gets pregnant. This may be referred to as chronic hypertension, and is usually treated with blood pressure medication. Doctors also consider hypertension that occurs in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy to be chronic hypertension.
• Gestational hypertension  :Gestational hypertension develops after the 20th week of pregnancy. It usually resolves after delivery. When diagnosed before 30 weeks, there’s a higher chance it will progress to preeclampsia (see below).
• Chronic hypertension with superimposed preeclampsia :Women who have chronic hypertension before becoming pregnant can develop preeclampsia. This occurs when they experience protein in their urine or additional complications as the pregnancy progresses.

Tracking blood pressure during pregnancy

A blood pressure reading is a fraction: your systolic blood pressure over your diastolic blood pressure. The top number is your systolic pressure, which is a measurement of the pressure on your arteries when the heart is beating or squeezing blood forward through your body. The diastolic pressure, or the lower number, is a measurement of the blood pressure in your arteries when the heart is at rest.