Hypertension and the Hidden Risk Beyond Your Blood Pressure Checks
Pregnancy Podcast
Vanessa Merten
4.5 • 970 Ratings
🗓️ 16 November 2025
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Some fluctuations in blood pressure during preganncy are expected, but hypertensive disorders are one of the leading causes of maternal and perinatal mortality worldwide. This includes chronic or gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, HELLP, and eclampsia. High blood pressure during pregnancy can place significant stress on your heart and kidneys leading to heart and kidney disease and stroke. It also increases the risk of preterm birth, placental abruption, and cesarean. Plus, it can reduce blood flow to the placenta and limit the oxygen and nutrients available to your baby.
Most pregnancy-related conditions resolve after birth, but the risk from hypertensive disorders does not end there. Mothers can develop dangerous symptoms in the days and weeks after birth, even if their blood pressure was normal throughout pregnancy. Recognizing warning signs and seeking medical attention right away can be life-saving.
Full article and resources for this episode: https://pregnancypodcast.com/hypertension/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You are listening to the pregnancy podcast with Vanessa Merton. |
| 0:09.7 | Hello, thank you for tuning into the pregnancy podcast. In today's episode, we're talking about |
| 0:16.9 | what every mother needs to know about hypertension during and after pregnancy. A lot of changes |
| 0:24.0 | during pregnancy affect your cardiovascular system, your heart and your blood vessels. There are some |
| 0:29.8 | changes in blood pressure that are normal during pregnancy, but hypertensive disorders are among |
| 0:35.9 | the leading causes of maternal and perinatal mortality worldwide. |
| 0:41.0 | Hypertension is high blood pressure. |
| 0:43.6 | And hypertensive disorders of pregnancy include chronic hypertension, gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, help syndrome, and eclampsia. |
| 0:56.8 | High blood pressure when you're pregnant can stress your heart and your kidneys that can lead to heart disease, kidney disease, and stroke. It also |
| 1:02.0 | increases your risk for preterm birth, placental abruption, and cesarian birth. High blood pressure can |
| 1:08.8 | also reduce the blood flow to the placenta, which can affect the flow of |
| 1:13.2 | oxygen and nutrients to your baby. So you can see why your care provider will closely monitor |
| 1:19.2 | your blood pressure throughout your prenatal care. The majority of pregnancy-related conditions |
| 1:25.1 | disappear after you have your baby. But new mothers remain at risk |
| 1:30.5 | for hypertensive disorders after birth, even if they have no symptoms during their pregnancy. |
| 1:37.0 | Your ability to recognize warning signs and promptly seek medical attention can potentially |
| 1:42.6 | be life-saving. You can find the complete article and all of the resources for this episode at |
| 1:49.3 | Pregnancypodcast.com slash hypertension. |
| 1:53.9 | If you are hearing this, you are on the public feed, which means you will hear ads and have |
| 1:59.2 | access only to the last year of episodes. |
| 2:02.7 | If you want the full pregnancy podcast experience, check out pregnancy podcast premium. |
| 2:09.7 | Premium members get instant access to the entire back catalog, completely ad-free, plus all |
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