Can High Blood Pressure In Pregnancy Lead To Preeclampsia?

Highlights

High blood pressure during pregnancy or gestational hypertension can be a problem and needs to be monitored.

Preeclampsia is a condition during pregnancy characterized by a sudden rise in blood pressure and swelling in the face, hands, and feet.

If preeclampsia is untreated, it can develop into eclampsia, a potentially life-threatening condition.

The exact causes of preeclampsia are not known but are likely to involve blood vessels in the placenta

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For Zahra Aliakbar, pregnancy came with a lot of trouble. Little did she know that the joy of having a child would come with so many difficulties and health issues. The onset of third trimester brought with it new pregnancy symptoms, she knew little about.

Her blood pressure was high and she developed swelling in the legs and water retention also known as edema. Her family history of hypertension and diabetes may have caused gestational hypertension.

“I had high blood pressure in my 9th month. But luckily it was not that serious”, says Zahra. “I was even admitted for a few days and kept under observation”.

High blood pressure during pregnancy or gestational hypertension can be a problem and needs to be monitored. Around 10 to 25 percent of women with gestational hypertension can progress to having a condition called preeclampsia which damages organs. High blood pressure and protein in the urine are the main reasons which cause preeclampsia.

“In my last trimester, I had a lot of swelling and water retention on my face, hands, and feet. I was on medication to lower my blood pressure till I delivered my baby. This could have led to more complications, but thankfully it did not.”

– Zahra Aliakbar

Symptoms and Complications of Preeclampsia

It is characterized by swelling in the legs and water retention, but this can be hard to distinguish from a normal pregnancy. If preeclampsia is not treated it can develop to eclampsia, in which the mother can experience seizures, go into a coma, and can even die.

Left untreated, preeclampsia can lead to serious complications for mother and the baby. Delivery of the baby is the best way to treat this condition but in some cases, it may take time for the mother to get better even after childbirth and in rare cases leads to a condition known as postpartum preeclampsia.

Swelling in feet — Swelling in the feet of a pregnant woman due to water retention

Blurry vision, sometimes seeing flashing lights, headaches, breathlessness, weight gain due to edema, vomiting, decrease in urine output are some of the symptoms to look out for if you are already having gestational hypertension.

The doctor may order blood tests, fetal ultrasound or non stress tests to check if there is decrease in platelets in the blood or impaired liver function or any restriction in fetal growth due to decreased blood supply to the placenta. Urine samples are collected over 12 hours or more, and the amount of protein is assessed to determine proteinuria. This can indicate the severity of the condition.

Causes and Cures

Though the exact causes of this condition are not known, experts say that the main reason is due to the narrowing of the blood vessels which may be caused due to a variety of reasons like damage to the blood vessels, insufficient blood flow to the uterus, immune system problems, genetic factors.

Though in most cases, delivering the baby is the best treatment, if you’re diagnosed with preeclampsia too early in your pregnancy, treatment or management protocol may include administering antihypertensive drugs, anticonvulsants and corticosteroids.

The doctor may also restrict physical activities and recommend bed rest to keep the blood pressure in control. Towards the end of pregnancy delivery may be hastened and labor is induced or a cesarean delivery is performed. Magnesium sulfate may also be given to improve uterine blood flow and prevent seizures.

Who is more at risk?

Family history, personal history of preeclampsia, women over 40 and teenagers are more likely to develop preeclampsia. Also certain conditions and illnesses like diabetes, high blood pressure, migraines, kidney disease and obesity, increase the risks. If a woman is expecting two or more babies, the risk is more.

Diet modifications

“Because blood pressure affects circulation, it can affect the amount of nutrients that are reaching the baby”, says Zahra who is also a nutritionist. “Therefore it is important to eat a nutrient-rich diet.Also include plenty of healthy foods like wholegrains, fish, nuts, legumes, fruit, vegetables and dairy products and foods rich in omega 3 are particularly important if someone has preeclampsia. Also abstain from fatty foods which may result in weight gain and oily foods which may cause indigestion, bloating and acidity”.

“Apart from some underlying causes for pre-eclampsia, the inevitable urges for certain kinds of food during pregnancy like spicy, sweet, sour, very often leads us to indulge in eating less nutritious food which triggers many gestational induced disorders like weight gain, gestational diabetes, and hypertension. So it’s best to curb the cravings and make conscious efforts to eat a healthy diet high in calcium magnesium Vitamin B and Vitamin D. Take regular supplements of the same. Avoid high salt foods like pizzas, pickles, potato chips, and such other processed foods, But it’s not recommended to follow a super low salt diet which may lead to water deficiency to the growing fetus”.

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India shall soon surpass its neighbour, that is China in terms of population. However, as far as its working population is concerned, we are far behind! International Labour Organisation says that only a fifth of adult women had a job or sought one in 2019, compared with three-fifths in China. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, a local research firm, put the share of urban women in or looking for work at just 7% in November.

But why is that so? It is found that there is a lack of knowledge among the females of the country when it comes to the value of financial independence. While the urban ladies are opting for jobs, there is still a large group of women who prefers to put an end to the career post marriage.

What we collectively fail to instill in our women is the power of financial independence. Given the patriarchal mindset, the society is diving into – there is no point in guessing how deep-rooted and well-planned this lack of knowledge is.

Younger teenage girls are often shown marriage as the ultimate goal of their lives and not even once the value of earning your bread and butter is taught to them.

Independence

When a woman becomes financially independent whether she is married or not, she gets a stand in society. Her opinions are heard, valued, and thought upon. Not just that, with financial independence, a freedom to choose and cut ties with things/people/situations that don’t serve you is possible.

Today, the country is loaded with cases of domestic violence and some women choose to stay in the abuse because they have nowhere else to go. When you are financially independent, your confidence is unshakable and you are well versed with self-sustainability.

I believe, to ensure that women don’t rise and are always unquestionably obeying men, women are not taught the importance of saving, earning, and investing.

The ones who decide to be financially independent are looked down on but do not fall for it. Irrespective of, how rich your husband and in-laws are, irrespective of how little you earn – having a goal, a career, savings, and an empire of your own is always better than being rich and yet having nothing of your own.

We need to tell our little girls, rebellious teens, and younger women that making money is not wrong. Making money is your birthright and financial independence is your ticket to freedom. Your marriage cannot be above your career because, at the end of the day, it is better to own your bread and butter!