high blood pressure and homebirth - Page 2

[nashvillemidwife]

Water that is too hot will raise your blood pressure.

[pamamidwife]

I've used waterbirth in cases where women had higher bp and it brought it down to normal. The balance between the water and your tissues makes for a nice response in BP. I highly recommend it, since labor typically can cause your BP to rise a bit.

[pamamidwife]

Originally Posted by Kidzaplenty

Really? I was told by the nurses at the hospital with my last birth to be very careful of taking a hot shower because it could drop my b/h very quickly and make me dizzy. Since I was having high b/p issues, I figured it was a good thing to take hot showers.

Were they wrong? Something else for me to check out now.

immersion in hot water can cause the blood vessels to dilate and yes, BP to drop. it initially raises the BP until your body becomes acclimated (by increasing your core body temp) and then the BP drops.

it's why people with very low BP often get faint easily with jacuzzis.

I've seen women not do so well after the birth of the placenta with very hot tubs because of the drop in BP (those women typically had low BP to start with)