High Blood Pressure After Delivery

Hi there! Congrats on your 4th little one!
First of all, try not to stress about the high blood pressure since it will make it worse. I too, developed very high blood pressure after delivering my second child by c-section. I had a spinal headache to add to it. I had no clue about the blood pressure until I went back to the hospital for the severe headache and was admitted about a week after delivering. Major alarm bells went off since my blood pressure was so high. I never had high blood pressure with either of my pregnancies. I spent another three days in the hospital and was sent home on medication. My doctor monitored me and I had to take my own blood pressure a couple times a day. I did not like the fact I was on medication but it helped. Eventually my numbers came down and stayed down, even after reducing the amount of meds.
I can now say I am no longer on high blood pressure meds and do not have to monitor my blood pressure. All in all, it took about 3 months for everything to go back to "normal".
Good luck and hang in there. High blood pressure is nothing to mess with though.

I missed the Cesarian part, but I, too had pregancy related high blood pressure. It subsided a bit after my sons birth (when I was 34) birth, but came back in my forties. I have been on blood pressure medication for years now, and my blood pressure is in a healthy range now. Many people with pregnancy induced hypertention (high blood pressure) will later develop plain old high blood pressure. There are a lot of medications available, one of which will work well for you. Most of them are reasonably priced, too Just make sure you have your annual physicals so that if and when it develops, it can be caught and controlled before you get heart damage, kidney damage, strokes or any of the other horrible things high blood pressure can do. If you are prescribed a medication, take it without fail. High blood pressure is controllable, and my medication has no unpleasant side effects (although the first one I tried didn't work out). Treat it with respect. hang in there.... L.

J. ~
I'm an L&D nurse .... Pre-eclampsia is caused by the placenta during pregnancy. But symptoms can start even up to 6 weeks after delivery. The only cure is delivery, which you already did. Sometimes, like one of the other writes said, they hospitalize you for Magnesium Sulfate IV and blood pressure meds. The Magnesium is to prevent seizures. If seizures develope, it becomes eclampsia.
Hope that helps some.
D.

Hi J.~
Mother of 4? Just had major surgery? Stressed out about elevated BP? Sounds like a vicious cycle! Ok...all joking aside...it could just be temporary. Even though you already had 3 children, adding another turns your world upside down for a bit! Add it all up and you DO have cause to be stressed. To ease your mind AND for your medical chart, keep track of your BP at home and take a log in to your doc when you go. Very often, your BP will elevate at the doctor, then decrease to normal readings at home. If this is the case, no problems...it should eventually even out. If it's elevated regularly, there are endless ways to get it into normal range. Don't stress...even if you do have hypertension now for some reason, you'll just deal with it and move on! You'll be okay!

~L.

This happened to my mother when she had me. They told her it was caused by her having me when she was in her 30's. She has been trying to get it under control since. This was 38 years ago though so I am sure there have been many advancements to help with it since then.

Hello J.!
After the birth of my second child my blood pressure spiked as well. Mine was a vaginal delivery without complications and no elevation in bp during pregnancy or delivery. I developed a terrible headahe and dizziness 4 days after delivery which ultmately landed me back in the hospital. My obgyn (Dr. Bayram @ Huron Valley - Sinai Hospital) concluded I had Toxemia based on blood lab results. Many will argue that that couldn't be possible, since Toxemia is a condition during pregnancy and the birth of the baby rids the body of it. Even my Dr. was a bit surprised with my lab results/diagnosis. I was given Magnesium Sulfate via IV, to prevent seizures and blood pressure medication. After 4 days I was discharged home on bp medication and weaned from it after a month. I've not had any problems since, and that was nearly 9 years ago.

Hope this helps
M.

Hi J.,
I delevered natural, but I too had very high blood pressure right after delivery. They put me on my side for what seemed like a couple of hours to help bring it down. It came down slowly throughout the day.
I didn't have high blood pressure before the delivery and it didn't continue after that day. I have been about 70/110 ever since and my kids are grown now.
Unless your blood pressure isn't going back down, I wouldn't be too worried. Good Luck!!

I've always had perfect blood pressure but when I was pregnant with my first child, near the end of the pregancy it got a bit high. high enough for my doctor to mention it but not high enough to ever take any medication or real action. After the baby was delivered, rather uneventfully, it stayed high until a while after my 6 week checkup. it eventually went back down and I've never had a problem again, even with my second born.
just thought I'd share that it happened to me with no adverse effects!~
A.

I spiked a high blood pressure after a c-section. It was while relatives who were there to help but were very critical of everything I did were there. Hmmmmmmm

I digress.

Can you get some time off to get your stress level a little more under control? Take up offers from others to help by making a list of what you need (clean the kitchen, bathroom, take 1-3 out to play etc) and assigning it as the offers come in. Good luck!

Dear J.,
Wow, that is stressful! As if being the mother of four wasn't stressful enough. I have not had this problem, but I am a nurse so I had a few ideas. First of all, do you have an automatic blood pressure cuff at home? If you did, you could check your blood pressure throughout the day, and maybe notice if there was a pattern to the blood pressure spiking. Could it be stress related? You do have a lot on your plate! Also, have they checked your kidneys? Don't freak out, because this is often something they look at with HBP, and it doesn't mean the problem isn't fixable. Are you getting any sleep? I know it's hard with a new baby, but lack of sleep can contribute to the problem.
Finally, take a deep breathe, and say to your self, "I will be okay." The doctors will figure this out. In the meantime, don't be afraid to ask for help from family and friends. A C-section is a surgery, and you had an especially rough time of it. You need the best rest, best nutrition, and as much support as you can get. Take care of you! Best warm wishes from a mom who cares!

Hi Jacki,
My daughter just gave birth to her third child in June. It was a second VBAC and labor went fine. However during labor her blood pressure spiked. She did not find this out until after she delivered. It was called pre-eclampsia (probably not spelled correctly)and she needed to be treated with some pretty strong medicine. She had to stay in the hospital an extra day. She is fine now. It was really strange though because she has never had blood pressure issues and when tested throughout her pregnancy she never tested even borderline for this condition.
Her doctor even thought it was really strange. So strange things can happen and then everything can go back to normal.
Hope this is encouraging.