HealthInfo Canterbury
High blood pressure & pre-eclampsia in pregnancy
It's important to monitor your blood pressure during pregnancy.
Some women develop high blood pressure (hypertension) when they're pregnant and may need treatment. Other women may have high blood pressure before becoming pregnant and may need changes to their medication.
All women with high blood pressure in pregnancy need close monitoring. Sometimes, high blood pressure in pregnancy can be part of a serious pregnancy condition called pre-eclampsia.
As well as high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia can cause you to lose protein through your urine (proteinuria). Severe pre-eclampsia can affect your kidneys, brain, liver, blood clotting system and placenta.
Symptoms of pre-eclampsia
With pre-eclampsia you can have:
- ongoing, persistent or severe headaches
- changes in eyesight such as blurry vision and seeing spots, flashing lights or floaters
- pain in your upper belly, tummy area or shoulder
- sudden and new swelling in your face, hands or eyes (some feet and ankle swelling is normal during pregnancy)
- sudden weight gain (more than 1 kg in a week or more than 3 kg in a month)
- vomiting later in your pregnancy (not the morning sickness of early pregnancy)
- difficulty breathing.
Important
Get immediate medical advice if you develop any of these symptoms during your pregnancy.
HealthInfo recommends the following videos
- NHS – What is pre-eclampsia and what are the warning signs?
Explains pre-eclampsia and what warning signs you may notice.
HealthInfo recommends the following pages
- Healthify He Puna Wairoa
- High blood pressure in pregnancy
Detailed information about high blood pressure in pregnancy, including why it's a problem and how it's treated.
- Pre-eclampsia
Detailed information about pre-eclampsia, including its symptoms and how it's treated.
- High blood pressure in pregnancy
- Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists – Pre-eclampsia
Information about pre-eclampsia, who gets it, how it might affect your baby, and how it's treated.
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed December 2021.
Review key: HIHCP-311277
