Pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) is described as a hypertensive condition women have while pregnant. Essentially, their blood pressure shoots up, there’s water retention and protein is in the urine.
The medical term for this is toxemia or preeclampsia. The actual cause of PIH is not known but who is at risk may provide doctors with critical data for researchers to narrow down and zero in on in identifying markers such as genetic predisposition.
These are including but not limited to, first-time moms, teenage mothers, women who had hypertension pre-pregnancy, women who have a family history of high blood pressure and women over 40 years of age. Just by isolating these factors and applying current data we have about hypertension, we can theorize what could cause PIH. For instance, we know that elevated stress levels and liberal sodium intake can precipitate high blood pressure. Applying a little deductive reasoning, we might argue that women carrying multiple babies might be at risk for elevated blood pressure as their stress levels tend to rise due to concerns about carrying the unborn salubriously to term. Or a would-be teenage mom who eats the clichéd “pickle” as a snack could be a candidate for the sodium content in the supermarket version (pickled in jars) is very high.
Mild symptoms of PIH would consist of water retention, protein in the urine and a bp reading of about 125/85. Severe would be blurred vision, vomiting, nausea, headaches, shortness of breath, pain in the right abdomen, bruising easily, urinating in minuscule amounts, bp reading at 150/95 and fatigue. You should call 911 immediately if you are experiencing any of these severe symptoms. Identifying PIH can be done when one goes in for prenatal care. Usually a primary doctor performs a blood pressure and urine check. A blood and kidney check may be done also to see if there is blood clotting, or an ultrasound to check the baby’s growth and a Doppler scan for gauging the regularity of blood flowing to the placenta. If you are diagnosed with PIH, treatment may be dependent on a few factors like how close you are to coming to term. Your doctor may want to deliver your baby sooner rather than later. If your high blood pressure is mild and you are only 5 months along or less, here are a few tips to follow:
You should lie on your left side to reduce the baby’s weight on your major blood vessels. Take frequent trips for prenatal checkups. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables. Drink 8 glasses of water a day. Avoid alcohol consumption, high sodium, junk and fried foods.
Exercise regularly. Elevate your feet and get plenty rest. Natural herbs can be helpful for pregnancy-induced hypertension as well. Herbs such as garlic, if done in proper doses can be helpful. A little cayenne pepper may be solid choices too as they both dilate blood vessels and increase blood flow which is a vital delivery to the placenta area for pregnant women. For a lack of proper blood flow to that area can result in the baby not receiving adequate food and oxygen. This could bring about low-birth weight or worse for the child like brain damage. Diuretic herbs are essential too as pregnancy -induced hypertensives retain water. Herbs such as couch grass, uva ursi and horsetail are outstanding for increasing urine production. Be advised that before undertaking any novel dietary or exercise program, you may want to consult your doctor.
For more natural and organic solutions to pregnancy-induced hypertension, please subscribe to Ivan L Andersen’s Pregnancy Hypertension list for free tips, e-courses and recipes or visit http://herbs-for-hypertension.com.
