High Blood Pressure in Pregnancy—Childbirth Problems

While childbirth usually goes well, complications can happen. They can cause a risk to the mother, baby, or both. Possible complications include

• Preterm (premature) labor, when labor starts before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy
• Problems with the umbilical cord
• Problems with the position of the baby, such as breech, in which the baby is going to come out feet first
• Birth injuries

For some of these problems, the baby may need to be delivered surgically by a Cesarean section.

• Assisted delivery with forceps (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Brachial plexus injury in newborns (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Breech birth (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Caput succedaneum (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Meconium aspiration syndrome (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Premature rupture of membranes (Medical Encyclopedia)

If you are pregnant, high blood pressure can cause problems for you and your unborn baby. You may have had high blood pressure before you got pregnant. Or you may get it once you are pregnant – a condition called gestational hypertension. Either one can cause low birth weight or premature delivery of the baby.

Controlling your blood pressure during pregnancy and getting regular prenatal care are important for the health of you and your baby. Treatments for high blood pressure in pregnancy may include close monitoring of the baby, lifestyle changes, and certain medicines.

Some pregnant women with high blood pressure develop preeclampsia. It’s a sudden increase in blood pressure after the 20th week of pregnancy. It can be life-threatening for both you and the unborn baby. There is no proven way to prevent it. Most women who have signs of preeclampsia are closely monitored to lessen or avoid complications. The only way to “cure” preeclampsia is to deliver the baby.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

• Eclampsia (Medical Encyclopedia)
• HELLP syndrome (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Preeclampsia (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Preeclampsia – self-care (Medical Encyclopedia)