Downloadable documents – High blood pressure

Pregnancy stresses your heart and circulatory system, but many women who have heart conditions deliver healthy babies. Know the risks – and how to help prevent complications.

There are many risk factors associated with coronary heart disease and stroke. The major risk factors, tobacco use, alcohol use, high blood pressure (hypertension), high cholesterol, obesity, physical inactivity, unhealthy diets, have a high prevalence across the world.

High blood pressure and pregnancy isn’t necessarily a dangerous combination. Here’s what you need to know to take care of yourself — and your baby.

What can I do to avoid a heart attack or a stroke?

Information for patients on high blood pressure.

Preeclampsia is defined as high blood pressure and excess protein in the urine after 20 weeks of pregnancy in a woman who previously had normal blood pressure.

It is very important that you follow a healthy lifestyle that includes adequate amounts of nutritious foods and regular exercise, especially during pregnancy. The maternal diet should include enough energy and nutrients to provide for the growth and development of the unborn baby as well as to ensure health and intelligence in the child later in life.

Most women who are overweight have a straightforward pregnancy and birth and deliver healthy babies. However being overweight does increase the risk of complications to both you and your baby. This information is about the extra care you will be offered during your pregnancy and how you can minimise the risks to you and your baby in this pregnancy, and in a future pregnancy. Your healthcare professionals will not judge you for being overweight and will give you all the support that you need.

Preeclampsia develops only during pregnancy.

Preeclampsia used to be called toxemia because it was thought to be caused by a toxin in a pregnant woman’s bloodstream. This theory has been discarded, but researchers have yet to determine what causes preeclampsia.