Pregnant women and causes of low blood pressure

Low blood pressure during gravidity

The condition of having the value of blood pressure below the recommended level is not regarded by experts as equally hazardous as the increased value. Be that as it may, if a person experiences low blood pressure, the situation requires attention. This is especially true if the patient is a pregnant woman, since she is carrying within herself another human body.

The time when decreased values appear in pregnant women is somewhere until the sixth month of pregnancy. The value of blood pressure then continues to soar towards the end of the pregnancy, and typically reaches a normal level somewhere right before labour.

Potential causes of low pressure

There is a whole range of culprits to be blamed for low blood pressure in gravid women. For example, the reason could be insufficient hydration of the body, some blockage in the arteries that prevents enough blood to reach the main organ of the central nervous system, as well as some problem with hormone release.

Also, there is the fact that the vascular system of the future mother needs to adjust itself to the new situation in the body – now it has to deliver blood not only to the mother’s tissues but also to the baby’s. In addition, the cause of decreased blood pressure in a mother may originate from the fact that she had previously suffered from some other disease. For example, she might have had some coronary problems, or an ailment of the internal hormonal secretion system.

It is of utmost importance that the future mother consults her doctor and gets all the necessary advice or perhaps medications. Not all of the women will need to take medicines, but, there is a set of precautionary measures that a mother needs to follow in the situation of experiencing low blood pressure. What is very important is that the mother gets hydrated enough – she needs to drink plenty of water and other fluids.

In addition to the above mentioned measures, the woman should preferably avoid standing up for too long. Also, avoiding sudden standing up from a horizontal position or from sitting is also recommended. Plus, lying on the back is also to be avoided. When a woman is lying on her back, additional pressure is applied on vena cava and aorta. Therefore, it is best to lie sideways. Of course, one of the most reliable measures for regulating blood pressure is working out regularly – provided it is done in a manner and with intensity appropriate for a pregnant woman.