High blood pressure affects 6 to 15% of pregnancies
In pregnant women, we speak ofhypertension when systolic blood pressure (i.e. blood pressure in the arteries) is greater than or equal to 14 or diastolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 9. Systolic pressure is recorded when the heart contracts and diastolic pressure as it relaxes.
“High blood pressure occurs in 6 to 15% of pregnancies. It is accompanied by the presence of albumin in the urine in 2 to 5% of cases. »Prof. Élie Saliba, pediatrician.
According to Dr Patrick Tubiana, obstetrician gynecologist, specialist in pathological pregnancies “The main risk is growth retardation”.
What does the presence of albumin in the urine mean?
Albumin is an organic protein substance. This is why we speak of proteinuria when we find traces of albumin in the urine. It can be evidence of a urinary tract infection. It can also be a sign of toxemia of pregnancy called ” preeclampsia“. The latter is diagnosed by the presence of albumin in the urine but also by an increase in blood pressure. Swelling of the face and extremities of the body may also appear. “These disorders are linked to an anomaly in the invasion of the uterus by the egg, which results in a bad reorganization of the uterine arteries and consequently in an inability to ensure the blood flow necessary for fetal-placental development”, explains Prof. Élie Saliba, head of the pediatric and neonatal intensive care unit at the University Hospital Center (CHU) in Tours. To quickly detect proteinuria, it is recommended to carry out the analyzes prescribed by the doctor.
What is the medical follow-up during hypertension?
Pregnant women with high blood pressure benefit from close medical monitoring. There are more consultations with the obstetrician-gynecologist (normally, there is one consultation per month, in the event of hypertension, the gynecologist may decide to see his patient again every two weeks). Ultrasounds are performed every month. Other examinations are possible: thedoppler, to measure blood flow in uterine, cord or fetal brain vessels; monitoring, to record the fetal heart rate. A midwife can also visit the mother-to-be’s home once or several times a week.
There are two forms of high blood pressure that should not be confused. On the one hand, there is pregnancy hypertension, which appears from 20 weeks of gestation (18 weeks of pregnancy). “It comes with the pregnancy and disappears when it ends,” explains Dr. Patrick Tubiana, obstetrician-gynecologist. On the other hand, there is chronic hypertension, present before pregnancy.