High Blood Pressure in Pregnancy
Source: MedlinePlus Health Topics, U.S. National Library of Medicine
What is high blood pressure in pregnancy? Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. Your arteries are blood vessels that carry blood from your heart to other parts of your body. High blood pressure , or hypertension, is blood pressure that is higher than normal. Having high blood pressure can put you at risk for other health problems, such as heart disease , heart attack , and stroke . During pregnancy, high blood pressure can cause problems for you and your baby. To keep you and your baby healthy, it's important to get treatment for high blood pressure before, during, and after pregnancy. What are the types of high blood pressure in pregnancy? There are different types of high blood pressure in pregnancy: Gestational hypertension is high blood pressure that you develop while you are pregnant. It starts after you are 20 weeks pregnant. You usually don't have any other symptoms. In many cases, it does not harm you or your baby, and it goes away within 12 weeks after childbirth. But it does raise your risk of high blood pressure in the future. If it becomes severe, it can lead to a preterm birth or your baby having a low birth weight . Some women with gestational hypertension do go on to develop preeclampsia, a more serious type of high blood pressure in pregnancy. Chronic hypertension is high blood pressure that starts before the 20th week of pregnancy or before you became pregnant. Some people may have had it long before becoming pregnant but didn't know it until they got their blood pressure checked at their prenatal visit . Sometimes chronic hypertension can also lead to preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is a sudden increase in blood pressure after the 20th week of pregnancy. It usually happens in the last trimester. Preeclampsia also often includes signs of damage to some of your organs, such as your liver or kidneys. The signs may include protein in the urine (pee) and very high blood pressure. Preeclampsia can be serious or