High Blood Pressure After Delivery

Hi Jacki,
My daughter just gave birth to her third child in June. It was a second VBAC and labor went fine. However during labor her blood pressure spiked. She did not find this out until after she delivered. It was called pre-eclampsia (probably not spelled correctly)and she needed to be treated with some pretty strong medicine. She had to stay in the hospital an extra day. She is fine now. It was really strange though because she has never had blood pressure issues and when tested throughout her pregnancy she never tested even borderline for this condition.
Her doctor even thought it was really strange. So strange things can happen and then everything can go back to normal.
Hope this is encouraging.

Dear Jackie,
Wow, that is stressful! As if being the mother of four wasn't stressful enough. I have not had this problem, but I am a nurse so I had a few ideas. First of all, do you have an automatic blood pressure cuff at home? If you did, you could check your blood pressure throughout the day, and maybe notice if there was a pattern to the blood pressure spiking. Could it be stress related? You do have a lot on your plate! Also, have they checked your kidneys? Don't freak out, because this is often something they look at with HBP, and it doesn't mean the problem isn't fixable. Are you getting any sleep? I know it's hard with a new baby, but lack of sleep can contribute to the problem.
Finally, take a deep breathe, and say to your self, "I will be okay." The doctors will figure this out. In the meantime, don't be afraid to ask for help from family and friends. A C-section is a surgery, and you had an especially rough time of it. You need the best rest, best nutrition, and as much support as you can get. Take care of you! Best warm wishes from a mom who cares!

I spiked a high blood pressure after a c-section. It was while relatives who were there to help but were very critical of everything I did were there. Hmmmmmmm

I digress.

Can you get some time off to get your stress level a little more under control? Take up offers from others to help by making a list of what you need (clean the kitchen, bathroom, take 1-3 out to play etc) and assigning it as the offers come in. Good luck!

I've always had perfect blood pressure but when I was pregnant with my first child, near the end of the pregancy it got a bit high. high enough for my doctor to mention it but not high enough to ever take any medication or real action. After the baby was delivered, rather uneventfully, it stayed high until a while after my 6 week checkup. it eventually went back down and I've never had a problem again, even with my second born.
just thought I'd share that it happened to me with no adverse effects!~
A.

Hi Jackie Have your doctor check your hormone levels and if you find that they are low ask for bio-identical (natural) hormones. Also if at all possible exercise, watch what you eat and most importantly have some time for yourself to bring your stress level down. R.

Hi Jackie,
I delevered natural, but I too had very high blood pressure right after delivery. They put me on my side for what seemed like a couple of hours to help bring it down. It came down slowly throughout the day.
I didn't have high blood pressure before the delivery and it didn't continue after that day. I have been about 70/110 ever since and my kids are grown now.
Unless your blood pressure isn't going back down, I wouldn't be too worried. Good Luck!!

Hello jackie!
After the birth of my second child my blood pressure spiked as well. Mine was a vaginal delivery without complications and no elevation in bp during pregnancy or delivery. I developed a terrible headahe and dizziness 4 days after delivery which ultmately landed me back in the hospital. My obgyn (Dr. Bayram @ Huron Valley - Sinai Hospital) concluded I had Toxemia based on blood lab results. Many will argue that that couldn't be possible, since Toxemia is a condition during pregnancy and the birth of the baby rids the body of it. Even my Dr. was a bit surprised with my lab results/diagnosis. I was given Magnesium Sulfate via IV, to prevent seizures and blood pressure medication. After 4 days I was discharged home on bp medication and weaned from it after a month. I've not had any problems since, and that was nearly 9 years ago.

Hope this helps
M.

HI Jackie,

My situation is a little bit different, but hopefully I can ease your mind a little. I was pre-eclamptic with my first child, and had ok blood pressure for the others. 2 years after my last child I did develop hypertension, not suprising since it runs in half of my family. Mine was hormone related. It can take several weeks for the hormones to regulate again. High blood pressure is to be taken seriously, and it is not always due to stress. The important thing, in my eyes, is for whatever the cause of the HTN, just treat it. If it goes away, great, then you don't have to worry, and if it doesn't, then you take a pill everyday and you are fine. If you are comfortable monitoring your own blood pressure, then get your own cuff.I find that the cheap ones with the stethascope attached are the most accurate over the electronic ones. And if it doesn't go back down, make sure that your general physician/internist knows that you are hypertensive so they can manage it. HTN is dangerous when it is not treated. It is easily treated though so try not to worry so much about it. Take care.

This happened to my mother when she had me. They told her it was caused by her having me when she was in her 30's. She has been trying to get it under control since. This was 38 years ago though so I am sure there have been many advancements to help with it since then.

Hi Jackie~
Mother of 4? Just had major surgery? Stressed out about elevated BP? Sounds like a vicious cycle! Ok...all joking aside...it could just be temporary. Even though you already had 3 children, adding another turns your world upside down for a bit! Add it all up and you DO have cause to be stressed. To ease your mind AND for your medical chart, keep track of your BP at home and take a log in to your doc when you go. Very often, your BP will elevate at the doctor, then decrease to normal readings at home. If this is the case, no problems...it should eventually even out. If it's elevated regularly, there are endless ways to get it into normal range. Don't stress...even if you do have hypertension now for some reason, you'll just deal with it and move on! You'll be okay!

~L.

Hi my name is Fatimah I am 29 years old and have had 3 pregnancy after the thrid one this year my BP shotup when I went to my 6 week PP checkup it was 150/90 and that was high so my obgyn told me to come back in a week it was still high I thought it was due to the wight I have gain but as i started to lose the wight the BP was still high I am not on any med I aqm sceard I don't know what to do I have never had a problm with my BP and now I do I don't know what is going on and either do my doc I have had an EKG done and it was normal what is going on with my body. I also have cut back on salt and even do yoga and it has not came down. On top of all that all my lab's are coming back normal what can I so you other women are not alone out there we all need to come togather and figure out what's going on with us or are the doc's not telling us something that we need to know about high BP after giving brith.

Jackie ~
I'm an L&D nurse .... Pre-eclampsia is caused by the placenta during pregnancy. But symptoms can start even up to 6 weeks after delivery. The only cure is delivery, which you already did. Sometimes, like one of the other writes said, they hospitalize you for Magnesium Sulfate IV and blood pressure meds. The Magnesium is to prevent seizures. If seizures develope, it becomes eclampsia.
Hope that helps some.
D.

I missed the Cesarian part, but I, too had pregancy related high blood pressure. It subsided a bit after my sons birth (when I was 34) birth, but came back in my forties. I have been on blood pressure medication for years now, and my blood pressure is in a healthy range now. Many people with pregnancy induced hypertention (high blood pressure) will later develop plain old high blood pressure. There are a lot of medications available, one of which will work well for you. Most of them are reasonably priced, too Just make sure you have your annual physicals so that if and when it develops, it can be caught and controlled before you get heart damage, kidney damage, strokes or any of the other horrible things high blood pressure can do. If you are prescribed a medication, take it without fail. High blood pressure is controllable, and my medication has no unpleasant side effects (although the first one I tried didn't work out). Treat it with respect. hang in there.... L.

hi,
I'd like to know if you've blood pressure is down now as I've found myself in the same position! I'm being treated for high blood pressure after giving birth to twin girls almost 2 years ago. I started medication soon after they were born.

Thanks,

Hi there! Congrats on your 4th little one!
First of all, try not to stress about the high blood pressure since it will make it worse. I too, developed very high blood pressure after delivering my second child by c-section. I had a spinal headache to add to it. I had no clue about the blood pressure until I went back to the hospital for the severe headache and was admitted about a week after delivering. Major alarm bells went off since my blood pressure was so high. I never had high blood pressure with either of my pregnancies. I spent another three days in the hospital and was sent home on medication. My doctor monitored me and I had to take my own blood pressure a couple times a day. I did not like the fact I was on medication but it helped. Eventually my numbers came down and stayed down, even after reducing the amount of meds.
I can now say I am no longer on high blood pressure meds and do not have to monitor my blood pressure. All in all, it took about 3 months for everything to go back to "normal".
Good luck and hang in there. High blood pressure is nothing to mess with though.