Anyone have high blood pressure during pregnancy?

[lmariana]

One of my friends recently found out that she has really high blood pressure as a result of the pregnancy (also has lots of swelling and protein in the urine and has been on bed rest for 2 weeks). Well, she's being induced tomorrow (2.5 weeks early), and she's wondering what kind of labor to expect. Any ideas? WIll they let her labor long enough, or are there concerns from the HBP? Should she be preparing for a c/s?

Thanks!

Mariana
Owner of HappyDayBaby
Mother of Gabriel, 08/14/2003
www.heinzandmariana.com (personal site)

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030814/1/5/0/-5/.png[/img] ([img)

[steph2003]

I did (and do) still have HBP but fortunately my protein was always fine so they just monitored me - never had any swelling either, wore my rings up until the day I delivered (ok ducking now!) I was just lucky that way.

Sorry I'm not much help. I did have a friend who was induced 2.5 weeks early because she swelled up like a balloon almost over night. In her case she had a long 48 hour labor w/pitocin & did deliver vaginally. But with any induction or medical intervention there is always a somewhat larger risk of ending up with a C-section (at least from the stats I've seen/read)

[pritchettzoo]

With any induction, she should prepare for a c/s. C/s rates are much higher with inductions than with "regular" labor. They might put a time limit on her labor (like 12-18 hours) and let her labor within that as long as she and the baby tolerate it and the pitocin. My SIL had HBP and was induced. The baby's heartrate dropped and they did an emergency c/s. One snafu after another, she had an incision that didn't close and remained open for several months. She went to a doctor to get a second opinion (and to determine if there had been any malpractice) who said that with HBP and in her case, he would have done an up and down incision instead of the standard side-to-side incision. That's filtered through BIL (who's not the brightest), so who knows.

She should definitely go through the c/s protocol with her physician and ask any questions today or when she gets there tomorrow. If it is an emergency situation, she won't be able to take the time to ask questions and get them answered.

Good luck to her!

Anna
Mama to Gracie (Sept '03)
and One More (coming July '05)

[dowlinal]

I had the same exact situation except I had an immediate C-section. I developed prenatal hypertension at 3 months and was able to keep it in check with bed rest until 38 weeks. I believe induction is common in this situtation. I know that the original plan was that for me to try and carry for as long as possible and then be induced if I started developing preclampsia. In the end, I had the c-section because I wasn't dialated at all and the prostaglandins they give for that would have increased my bloodpressure even more.

On positive note, my daughter was born completely healthy and immediately after birth my BP went back to normal and its been fine since.

[kristenk]

I'm not sure that this is what she wants to hear, but I ended up with a c/s. My blood pressure was borderline high near the end of my pregnancy and I was put on bed rest. At one of my many ob appts. (while I was on bed rest), they discovered protein in my urine and I was sent (for the second time) to the hospital's L&D to be monitored. The hospital didn't see any protein and everything was fine, so I was sent home only to be called back to the hospital later in the evening b/c my ob wanted me to stay overnight. Cutting to the end...

I was induced (at 36w5d), and was put on magnesium sulfate (I think that's what it was) b/c of my blood pressure and b/c I was on that, they needed to monitor how much urine I was producing, so I had a catheter. They wouldn't let me out of bed b/c of the magnesium, so I was just sort of stuck in bed. When they induced, I think I was already dilated to about 3 or so and my ob broke my bag of waters and shortly thereafter they started pitocin. Any thought of natural childbirth went out the window after the pitocin/magnesium/catheter and I got an epidural. I ended up with a c/s b/c DD's head was stuck somewhere and she just wouldn't drop. I don't think that the c/s is a foregone conclusion for your friend, but she might want to prepare for lots of intervention by the hospital. I'm sure I could have fought some of the stuff that happened, but I was quite honestly floored that I was going to actually have the baby that day that one thing sort of led to another.

[egoldber]

Preeclampsia is one of the medical conditions that definitely qualifies for induction. They will monitor her closely and if her bp seems to escalate out of control into eclampsia, they will probably do an immediate C section. This is a potentially very dangerous situation for both mom and baby.

But as long as she seems to do OK in labor, then they will probably let her continue to labor normally. But as someone else mentioned, inductions always increase the likelihood of a C-section.

[Sandy]

I had preeclampsia and was on bed rest for about a month. I was induced about 2 weeks early when my blood pressure stayed high even when laying down. I was induced with pitocin and they had to break my water. Labor was about 22 hours and there was a period toward the end where they were considering a C/S but I ended up with a normal delivery.

As PP stated she should definitely be prepared for a C/S, but a normal delivery is totally possible.

Sandy mom to Alexander Thor 3/16/02
and another peanut edd 4/21/05

[amazz]

I had HBP my last week and I ended up needing to be induced. The induction didn't go well and I did end up having a c/s. Probably not what she wants to hear, but it is definitely better to be prepared mentally and emotionally then to have it sprung on you!!

Angela
Mama to Kami Allyse (10/10/04)
A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on. ~Carl Sandburg

[smomom]

I also had preeclampsia and pounds and pounds of swelling with Sage. I was scheduled to be induced 2 weeks prior to my due date. Mother Nature had other plans though, and my water broke 4 days before my induction date. My contractions never materialized on their own and I was given Pitocin 5 hours after my water broke. Sage was delivered vaginally about 5 hours after the first Pitocin drip. Luckily my bp stayed (relatively) normal during labor and delivery and everything was a breeze. My Pitocin-induced contractions immediately hit very hard, but luckily the man with the epidural was readily available. ;)

Good luck to her. As others have said, it's a good idea to prepare for a c/s, but a vaginal birth is very possible.

[lisams]

I was induced for HBP. When they take her in, they will hook her up to an IV and start something to lower the BP (it was something safe like Sodium something, can't remember but it worked). I was induced with prostaglandin gel on my cervix and then a little pitocin towards the end. She should be prepared for pain relief - induction contractions are stronger and more frequent, not like nature intended! Everything went well - pushed for over two hours but they really should have upped the pitocin to help me along. I delivered DD about 12 hours after starting induction vaginally. I was very swollen for about a week after because of all of the fluids they pumped into me, so warn her about that!!! Her chances of a c/s are higher than normal, but in the end all that matters is that mom and baby are healthy so try to keep her focused on that!

Good luck to your friend, she's lucky to have you!!!!
Lisa

[babyready]

Wow, after reading these replies, I feel pretty lucky. I was diagnosed with preeclampsia at 35 weeks and was on bedrest at home for only a few short days and then was moved to the hospital for bedrest because my bp was still high. I spent 5 days on hospital bedrest and my platelet count kept dropping so they decided to induce right away when I hit 37 weeks.

I was given the pitocin at 9:00pm (3 hours earlier than planned due to my platelet count) and was scared when I was not having any contractions. I pretty much slept until 4:30 the next morning when I finally started feeling contractions. My dd was born at 11:15am. I had wanted a natural birth with no interventions and although I had many interventions (pitocin, broke my water, etc.) I continued to have a vaginal delivery with no medication. I am very thankful.

I was warned that if my bp spiked too high during labor, I would have had to be given magnesium, which typically makes people sick and I knew of course with the induction that it would increase my changes of a c/s. And early on, there was talk of sending me to another town to meet with perintologists and get their opinion on my condition and determine whether or not I should have a c/s. Also, at that time, my dd would have been premature and the bigger hospital had better care for her if needed. Thankfully, my platelet count went up enough that they allowed me to stay there and induce me at 37 wks.

My dd was born healthy with no problems! It did take a week or so for my bp to go down to normal, but I didn't have to take any medication. Also, the swelling got so much worse after the delivery but was back to normal about a week after.

HTH

[COElizabeth]

With my first pregnancy, I was put on bed rest at 32 weeks for high blood pressure. Like Sandy, I was induced almost two weeks early when my BP stayed high even lying down. My induction (with a prostaglandin suppository first, then a pitocin drip) went pretty smoothly, and James was born about 10 hours after the prostaglandin was first inserted, with my pushing for only 8 minutes (after I reached 10 cm, I practiced "passive descent" by sitting up in bed and letting the baby come down for about 2 hours before starting to push - I highly recommend that for anyone with an epidural if the baby is not right there when you are fully dilated!).

Besides the fact of the induction itself, the impacts of the preeclampsia on my labor were that I was not allowed to walk around except for about 5 minutes and that I was given an epidural to help control my blood pressure. (I should add that for that delivery I had said I wanted an epidural, so it wasn't like it was being forced upon me, but I got it when my BP started going up a lot rather than waiting for me to ask for it).

My BP didn't return to normal for several weeks afterwards, and I was still on bed rest for nearly 4 weeks after James was born. I think that is relatively unusual, though.

I hope your friend's induction goes well. She should also know that this problem is less likely to happen in subsequent pregnancies. If it does, it may well be less severe. With Charlotte, I did develop preeclampsia, but not until the very end, when I was past due, and at that point I needed only one dose of prostaglandin gel to send me into labor, and I was able to labor normally with no restrictions on walking or anything like that.

HTH.

Elizabeth, Mom to James, 9-20-02
and Charlotte, 11-04-04

[trumansmom]

I had high blood pressure with both of my pregnancies. I was induced the second time about 10 days early. I had NO problems delivering vaginally, and within minutes I felt better than I had at any point during my pregnancy. It was a much more difficult labor, however, than the first time.

And it's hard to say how long they will let her labor. Much of that has to do with how high her blood pressure is, and how her body and baby react to labor. High blood pressure can be very serious, and a c-section could save her life in certain circumstances. I'm sure she must be freaked out, but help her keep her eye on the big picture. A c-section truly would not be the end of the world.

Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/29/01 and Eleanor 4/14/04

[tarahsolazy]

I developed mild preeclampsia at 40 weeks, and was induced at 41 because my amniotic fluid was very low, and the BP was getting higher. I don't think my body was ready to labor, I had a 32 hour induction which ultimately failed. I had a C/S, but did not have seizures or require magnesium sulfate, and I recovered rapidly. I think my induction would have been about 10-15 hours shorter, but I am stubborn, informed, and opinionated. I also was extremely swollen, more so after all that IV fluid than on admission to the hospital. I lost 37 pounds in 10 days after DS was born! I think your friend needs to know that there is a higher risk of C/S, like others have said, but its not a done deal. The more she knows about her hospital's C/S policies, the better she'll know what to expect just in case, and she will have time to question any silly policies like long separations of mom and baby after a uncomplicated C/S, etc...