Hypertension in Pregnancy

Hypertension in pregnancy is the most likely problem likely to be encountered during your pregnancy. In fact 2 or 3 percent pregnant women have Pregnancy induced hypertension.
Jane Burton of Billings, Montana had Hypertension in pregnancy during her second pregnancy. She found out on her fifth prenatal visit.

As she found out, first pregnancy, age older than 35 years, a new sexual partner, a family history of preeclampsia in a first-degree relative, and time since your last pregnancy of less than 2 years or more than 10 years increase the chances to have Hypertension in pregnancy.
Other things that increase the likelyhood of Hypertension in pregnancy are chronic hypertension, thrombophilia, secondary causes of chronic hypertension like pheochromocytoma, systemic lupus erythematosus and obesity.

Hypertension in pregnancy might not cause any symptoms. But, it can cause visual disturbances like scintillations (flashes of light) and scotomata (blind spots) - probably from spasm of cerebral arteries, rapidly increasing swelling of the legs, headache and rapid weight gain. Upper abdominal pain might suddenly occur and is usually constant and fairly severe. Headaches are often in the front, throbbing and similar to migrane headaches.

The big problem of Hypertension in pregnancy is that it can cause thromboembolism (blood clots), placental abruption where the placenta detaches from the uterus, swelling of the liver which can cause liver failure, strokes, heart problems and even death of the mother. In fact, from 1991 to 1999 over 15% of the deaths of women during pregnancy were caused by Hypertension in pregnancy.

There are three types of Hypertension in pregnancy: Chronic Hypertension, Preeclampsia and Transient hypertension.

Chronic Hypertension
The majority of the time chronic hypertension has no other cause. However, it can be caused by kidney disease like polycystic kidneys, glomerular or interstitial disease, coarctation of the aorta, problems with the blood vessels in the kidneys called renal artery stenosis or fibromuscular dysplasia, too much parathyroid hormone or even using oral contraceptives.

Preeclampsia
Nobody knows for sure what causes preeclampsia. One thing that we know is that it is caused by a problem with the inside lining of the blood vessels. This causes the blood vessels to spasm. When the arteries get smaller, the blood pressure increases. The damage also causes the blood vessels to leak causing swelling. It can cause problems with the brain, lungs and kidneys. These changes also can cause lower blood flow to the growing baby.

Transient hypertension
The elevated blood pressure called transient hypertension just happens late in pregnancy. Then after delivery, the blood pressure goes back to normal. But, it probably increases your chances of getting high blood pressure later in life.

Hypertension in pregnancy is one of the major reasons that you should keep your regular appointments with your OB-Gyn doctor.