Pregnancy Induced Hypertension

Hypertension is the medical term for high blood pressure. If you are diagnosed with hypertension, it means that your blood pressure is too high and is putting too much pressure on the artery walls as it travels through the body. If undiagnosed or not treated properly, hypertension can cause serious damage to the arterial system, kidneys, brain and eyes. Hypertension may also result in death, as it is the leading cause of strokes.

During the course of a pregnancy, a woman's body undergoes many changes. While some of those changes may be normal, other changes may be a cause for alarm. For many women, blood pressure levels become elevated as a direct result of the excess weight and stress associated with carrying a baby. Pregnancy induced hypertension is an all too common problem.

Women are particularly susceptible to high blood pressure during pregnancy and this is an especially dangerous time to have it. It can develop through both external stress and the special physical demands of carrying a child. Whatever the cause, pregnancy-induced hypertension needs to be carefully monitored as around 5% of cases will develop into preeclampsia, a very dangerous condition. Women in their first pregnancy are more susceptible to preeclamsia as are women who become pregnant later in their thirties or early forties.

Preeclampsia is more common with first pregnancies, teenage mothers, women over 40 and carrying multiple fetuses, but any pregnant woman can develop it. It usually develops late in the pregnancy (after 37 weeks) but can occur any time from 20 weeks to two weeks after delivery. Delivery of the baby is usually the best choice to prevent any complications, but if the mother is diagnosed with mild preeclampsia prior to 37 weeks, her doctor may choose not to induce and put her on bed rest with blood pressure medications to bring it down. If the mother is diagnosed with severe preeclampsia and is past 32 weeks, labor may be induced or she may be scheduled for a cesarean delivery. Severe preeclampsia prior to 32 weeks is often cause of hospitalization.

Pregnancy-induced high blood pressure, often called gestational hypertension, affects a small number of expectant mothers. The condition differs from chronic hypertension in that it is occurs only during pregnancy and is usually caused by it. In most cases it's not dangerous but around 1 in 4 women with gestational hypertension go on to develop a much more dangerous condition called preeclampsia. So it's very important to deal with gestational hypertension, though options are limited when powerful medications are the last thing an expectant mother wants!

For the baby, the sound and rhythm of mother's breathing forms a central part of its universe. Like being rocked by the waves of a primordial sea, the gentle rise and fall of its mother's breathing is an eternal comfort. By contrast, rapid breathing may be cause for alarm, especially if accompanied by other stressful signals.

This makes slow breathing with music an ideal aide to turn to during pregnancy and after at any time of stress and/or high blood pressure. Within minutes of starting, the soothing music exerts its effect and mother's rapid breathing will synchronize with the slow rhythm of the soundtrack. As the calming effects transfer to your baby you become as one. In fact, why not place an extra headset on your belly and let your baby listen too?

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