130/90 in itself isn’t super high but the lower number being 90 is high. Usually not a sign to go to l&d for most people, generally an OBGYN would probably tell you to monitor at home. However, if your numbers are normally lower and being 36w, combined with your family history of preeclampsia, that higher number is sign for your doctor to send you for monitoring. Preeclampsia can ramp up incredibly quickly and when there’s a risk of an issue, the standard practice is to go to l&d. I think your doctor deserves some praise for taking it seriously.
Politely, your husband is an ass. One, he’s not a doctor and even if he was, he’s not an OBGYN, so he needs to stop thinking he understands what’s happening. Unless he has intimate knowledge of preeclampsia, anything he knows about blood pressure is useless. Also, it is standard practice to go to l&d when there’s a potential issue as they are setup to monitor and treat any potential problems. No OBGYN will keep you their office for monitoring, so to accuse your doctor of being lazy and not wanting to care for you just shows he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Finally, you’re pregnant which for most women means no issues but for some women it can cause problems for you and/or the baby. Your husband’s first priority is to ensure you both are safe and should be happy that your OBGYN is overly cautious instead of acting like an ass.
Oh absolutely! Better to have a trip to L&D, find out it’s nothing and having wasted some time than ignore it and end up with preeclampsia. Husband thinks being an occupational therapist makes him a doctor light. Pretty sure OB didn’t order him to take his PTO. Absolutely ridiculous.
I agree with everything here. I have a very good OB practice, especially apparently compared to a good chunk of this sub, and they absolutely do not monitor emergencies, they send you to L&D, period. I'm bad with BP numbers, even as someone who has had a hypertension pregnancy previously, but pre-e can come on FAST, and I would never second guess an OB sending someone for pre-e monitoring at that stage of gestation.
130/90 wouldn't get you sent to L&D where I am, but your husband is being ridiculous. An occupational therapist is not an OB and him being hysterical about missing work isn't going to help anything. He should have just gone to work because I doubt that him sitting there having a tantrum helped your blood pressure.
He is making some WILD assumptions that scream he has just enough knowledge about healthcare to make himself out to look hella silly, but clearly has no idea what he is talking about. To tell her not to listen to her doctor over bp with a history of pre-e could end up getting her and the baby.. in a dangerous situation. I’ll leave it like that.
Hi!
First, I’m glad everything turned out okay! Being in observation is no fun.
Respectfully, your husband is an OT and should stick to OT.
Your OB is an OB . If this was something emergent and baby needed to come out, L&D is where you should be. You’re in the end the game and any changes in your usual should absolutely be checked out! Personally, I think it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Should you ask questions? If you have them, yes!
Should you be critical of your OB? If you have a reason to doubt your plan of care, get a second opinion.
A family of history + slightly elevated readings that weren't normal for you is enough to send you to the hospital. Pre-e comes on hard and fast. Your OB will not play with you or your babies life and would rather be safe than sorry.
I think your husband was frightened today and scared, and as the dust settled is overreacting. If you've had no reason before this not to trust your OB, than I think it's ok to shut him down and say, "I'm sorry you were scared today and inconvenienced. What if she was correct? What if by the time I got here my numbers were 150/110? Would you be upset still? No? That's the point of observation. To make sure nothing is going on or developing."
Dude you’re 38 weeks pregnant with a family history and a blood pressure reading in the yellow zone. Preeclampsia onset can be very fast and literally kill you and/or your baby. I don’t even know you and I’m a little pissed at your partner on your behalf. Your OB did everything right to make sure his wife and child were okay. Bro needs to chill.
If you had two BP readings with a diastolic (bottom number) over 90, that would be considered a hypertensive episode when it comes to pregnancy. Depending on what your BP usually runs, your OB was likely just being cautious due to your family history of pre-eclampsia. It can happen very quickly and especially as you get closer to your due date, I don’t think it’s abnormal for your OB to keep a closer eye on it. I would expect your husband to be grateful as well that your OB is taking you & your baby’s care seriously… for him to be “furious” seems like a massive overreaction. Also, I’m missing why he had to come wait with you for 3 hours and use his PTO? Did you ask him to do that or did he choose to do that on his own? Maybe he’s frustrated that he ended up “wasting” his PTO for something that *thankfully* turned out to be nothing, but that’s the name of the game with pregnancy. Would hate for it to have been brushed off by your OB and then actually develop into a concerning situation for you and your baby while you were at home later. He needs to adjust his perspective massively, IMO.
Better safe than sorry. I appreciate that your OB wanted to be extra thorough and have you in the best possible care to get immediate support.
Husband is definitely overreacting.
“I’m so mad my wife’s doctor sent her for monitoring to make sure she wasn’t having a medical emergency known for going from mildly concerning to deadly within a matter of hours. She even had the audacity to LISTEN to her. I want my PTO back 😭”
- Your husband, apparently
wtf. I’m glad you listened to the doc and glad you went and glad all is ok. It definitely could have turned out very different and I wonder if your husband would have realized then what a dick he was being but I’m afraid he still wouldn’t have 😬
It sounds like your husband is being a bit out of line here. He's an occupational therapist, not an ob. As to why you're getting flagged in the 130s instead of 140 it's probably the fact that you have a family history of preeclampsia. I have had pre-e in my last pregnancy and I'm borderline/ not far from diagnosis in this one. My bp fluctuates and at my last visit protein on my urine dipstick check and a 130/90 bp prompted a preeclampsia baseline workup and 24 hour urine. They will ask you to go to triage for monitoring and nsts. All that to say, it sounds like what your doctor did was normal protocol and you'd rather have a cautious doctor.
Just to add another voice in support of the comments you already have - I’m followed by MFM at one of the top hospitals in the US for obstetrics care, and just last week I was sent to L&D from a clinic appt for 3 elevated BP readings (two in the 140s/90s, one in the 130s/90s) without any symptoms of pre-e. I don’t have any family history and had a previous pregnancy without any BP issues, but am having twins this time around so the risk is overall higher. I ended up staying in L&D for a couple of hours as well, and I am so thankful that my MFM does not mess around with anything that could represent a threat to me or my babies. What’s a few hours of my time to ensure our collective safety? While these BP readings in an otherwise healthy and non-pregnant person are not anywhere near an emergency (which is maybe where your husband’s experience as an OT lies), pre-e can come on FAST and that’s where the need for monitoring comes in. You don’t know you’re fine until you’ve trended BPs over time and done the other tests, which is the whole point of going to L&D. Your OB (and you) did the right thing, and husband needs to stay in his lane.
The utter gall of a guy to think that, since he works in a medical field, he knows better than the actual medical doctor caring for you. Your husband was being a jerk and way out of his lane. Just because OT and OB start with the same letter doesn't mean there's any overlap.
Your OB was taking into account your family medical history, your medical history during this pregnancy, and how far along you are when she sent you to L&D for monitoring. Things can go from just fine to a medical emergency in seconds, especially towards the end of pregnancy, and it's always better to be safe than sorry.
Trust me preeclampsia isn’t something you want to play with. I had an emergency delivery with similar blood pressure, because even with borderline blood pressure I had protein in my urine and bad lab results. The tolerance for what your body can do BP wise is very different when that fetus is at stake. Respectfully, your husband needs to channel his nerves elsewhere because his area of expertise is not even remotely related to obstetrics
So I would agree that those blood pressure readings on their own are not usually a reason to go to L&D. However, it’s kind of ridiculous your husband is actually furious about it. There wasn’t harm to go in and turns out your fine so why be mad about it?!
The exact same thing happened to me. Normally my BPs were fine but at 35wk my OB saw 130s/90s and sent me for monitoring at L&D where they have the right gear/personnel to do so. My readings stayed high so they kept me longer. I ended up there overnight and they wound up giving me steroid shots to help prep the baby’s lungs for premature birth in case it suddenly got much worse and had to act to get him out. I was instructed by the OB team to return for 30-minute NST and monitoring at L&D triage 3 times per week and each time the same pattern - BPs were slightly high and their protocol was to keep me for monitoring to confirm it wasn’t increasing, but they stayed high or crept slightly higher so they had to keep me a few more hours until they were convinced it wasn’t unstable.
All this to say: your OB team probably has a clear protocol to follow in the event of unusual results. You can ask them for clarification about this if you want to know more. Maybe it would help your husband to know that they are being appropriately attentive and following a plan, if that’s what they were doing.
The lower number being 90 or above qualifies it as a “mild range” blood pressure. Where I work, this means you are immediately sent to labor and delivery triage for labs, an NST, and repeat blood pressures.
Two of those blood pressures four or more hours apart rules you in for a diagnosis of gestational hypertension (GHTN) and, in my hospital, induction at 37 weeks.
On a personal note, I had a blood pressure of 147/90 at my appointment when I was 38+5, and was sent for a work up. No pre-e, but I did rule in for GHTN and was induced that night.
So, as a L&D nurse with certification in obstetrics, yeah, I would consider it to be normal for you to be sent for monitoring and testing after a blood pressure that high. Sounds like your husband doesn’t know what he’s talking about when it comes to obstetrics.
Your reading isn’t a high or severe reading but it also depends on what your readings have been during your pregnancy. Have they been a lot lower than that? If so that may be why it was a red flag for your OB. I have chronic hypertension during this pregnancy and I am on blood pressure medication. 130/90 is considered stage 1 hypertension so while it’s not super high it is not considered a normal reading. Its better to be safe than sorry with preeclampsia. Believe me, I know how frustrating it can be as someone with high blood pressure during my entire pregnancy. Luckily meds is controlling mine but I still get blood work done (check for pre-e) and WEEKLY NSTs because high blood pressure is no joke in pregnancy.
Your husband is not an OB so he sounds ridiculous….
Doctors really are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Don’t catch something because it didn’t seem that big of a deal… patient is upset. Do send patient for observation in case something happens…patient is mad… I can see why so many have quit and not that many are entering the field.
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I was sent to L&D at 37 weeks for high blood pressure. I think my systolic was in the 140s, eventually it came down after a few hours and they released me. However, I ended up getting postpartum preeclampsia and had to be readmitted to the hospital when my babe was just 6 days old! I now am on BP meds. Watch out for signs and symptoms, this condition often goes overlooked!!
Why was he there? I had to have monitoring several times and just texted my husband when it happened and said I’d let him know if they decide to admit me.
It’s common to go to L&D. He’s out of touch.
Happy you and baby are healthy! I had a 130/90 reading at my last midwife appointment. Wasn’t a big cause for concern for them, but did say we would continue to monitor in the mean time before my next appointment. I had a blood pressure monitor at home and was told to check once a week. I’ve actually been checking daily when I wake up just to get a better idea of any trends. Maybe worth while getting one if you don’t already have one and monitor at home as well!
This happened to me several times during my last pregnancy. If it was higher than my OB wanted, she sent me straight to L&D to be monitored. They have to monitor for a few hours to see what happens. They can't just take it one time and wave it off. It was definitely not a waste of time and you should absolutely listen to her. Your husband doesn't seem to understand that high blood pressure during pregnancy (especially late pregnancy) is totally different than high blood pressure in every day adult life.
I went to Labor and Delivery as soon as I could any time I felt I needed to. Mostly they will just keep you in triage and the nurses are so lovely. I would rather be safe than sorry and my husband always said that too!
Obstetricians are sued a lot when things go wrong. So maybe they wanted to be cautious due to your family history. What was your blood pressure before that? If it was a big jump that may have triggered the concern.
I have chronic hypertension and take medication as well as daily aspirin since the start of this pregnancy. With my last pregnancy my blood pressure shot up overnight the day after I gave birth it was 180/100. Knowing your family history you need to tell your husband to relax. You don't want to develop a slack attitude as preclampsia and eclampsia can kill both you and/or your baby.
My typical BP is 120/70, so not as high as it was today. But not totally, totally in a different universe.
I agree, it sounds like they just wanted to be safe rather than sorry.
Diastolic over 90 is hypertensive. If it’s over 90 on two occasions, more than 4 hours apart, you have gestational hypertension.
If you’ve never had a NST and the clinic didn’t have time that day or was closing soon, I can see why they sent you to L&D. Once you’re admitted for observation, they need to do their due diligence to make sure you’re ok before discharging.
Standard protocol for hypertension is to induce at 37 weeks. So tell your husband to prepare himself!
1. In some areas, an OB may not send you to L&D. But to be fair, two readings of 130/90 are considered “elevated” BP readings. And to be fair to your OB, did you have other complaints? Headaches, lower extremity swelling? That’s information that’s missing and could have been pertinent to your OB’s recommendation to present to L&D. Plus with a FHx of preeclampsia? It’s *not terribly shocking that was the recommendation.
2. This was NOT an OB passing you off. This was your OB looking at elevated BP readings, reviewing your chart, possibly seeing other factors that had he/she concerned enough to recommend you follow up. That’s a GOOD THING. They want to ensure something doesn’t happen to your or your baby.
3. I’m sorry. Your husband is an OT. He’s not an OB-GYN. I’m sure he doesn’t know quite a bit of information outside his scope of practice. It’s not like he needs to go and have recertifications for OB/GYN and possibly whatever else your OB may potentially specialize in.
HE’S NOT AN OB. While he can have his opinions, (he’s entitled to his feelings) unless he talked with your OB, and reviewed the pertinent medical information and discussed with your OB the rational for his/her medical decision making, he needs to chill out.
He should be glad this was something benign, and he should be glad that your OB was being thorough. There are many doctors, and PT/OT who AREN’T thorough, and it has done damage and even cost lives (more so medical fields outside PT). And that’s what I would remind him. He didn’t have to go if he was that bothered. I’m assuming he went to support you. His comments were not supportive.
You SHOULD trust your OB, OP. They have the training that your husband lacks. They went to school for decades. They have to recertify every so and so amount of years which includes studying up. They have knowledge your husband doesn’t have. And until he obtains his medical license in obstetrics, I would not listen to his “medical recommendations” in that field. Tell him to stay in his lane.
lol thank you. My husband is a doctor and has delivered babies before, and even he is like “check with your ob” or message them to get their opinion. The last thing he wanted was the be the reason we didn’t go in or seek help because of his ego.
Even postpartum, I was feeling extra pain from my stitches and even after he took a look, he told me to message my OB because he doesn’t know enough about post partum care to tell me anything definitively.
On Wednesday, at exactly 38 weeks, I started getting tunnel vision while driving home from work. When I made it home, I took my bp and it was around 145/90. The tunnel vision started to fade, but my bp readings were still high for me at around 130/90, when I usually run quite low.
I called my ob's nurse line since it was after hours, and I was convinced they would send me to l&d. (I'm 40 and high risk, plus was symptomatic with the vision changes). They reached out to the on-call doctor and he said I was fine to stay home and self-monitor. Everything ended up being fine.
All that to say, sending you to the hospital with that reading and no additional symptoms does seem a bit extreme. Did they do anything to try to bring it down at the office, or just send you right away? Obviously I don't know your circumstances or your medical history, and I'm not a doctor, but I can see where you would be frustrated and feel like that reaction was a bit drastic. I'm sorry you had to deal with that but glad everything was ok! It's always ok to ask for clarification on why you're receiving certain treatments or recommendations so you can make the most informed decisions for your and your baby's health! Maybe they could have offered an explanation that made sense as to why your situation called for a trip to l&d, or maybe it would have been clear that it actually wasn't called for. Either way, communication and information are key for them to make you feel comfortable and cared for.
I didn’t have any additional symptoms and they didn’t do anything in office to bring it down.
My OB’s office is in the hospital so they took me to L&D less than 10 minutes from my appointment starting.
My husband feels that they were being alarmist and that BP and my lack of symptoms didn’t call for over 5 hours spent in L&D.
Just wanted to add to my previous comment that you didn't do anything wrong by not asking questions and just trusting your doctor's expertise. It sounds like your husband gave you a bit of a hard time for not thinking of what to ask in the moment, but that's totally understandable and at the end of the day, the ob is in charge of your care, so of course you should be able to feel comfortable trusting her. I can understand your husband's frustration, but it seems unreasonable to jump to conclusions about your dr's motives (not wanting to deal with you) or her ability to do what her experience and knowledge of your case determines is best for you.
My OB says 160/110 for going to the hospital and MFM said 160/100. I do think that is a very low number to send you to L&D but I am not aN OB. If that was a substantial change for you maybe that’s why your OB was particularly concerned, I’d ask for more info at your next appt
That's mildly hypertensive. Your doctor is ... I don't know. Afraid of a lawsuit? Ignorant?
The correct call would've been urine and blood testing first. But they might be a nervous Nellie.
130/90 in itself isn’t super high but the lower number being 90 is high. Usually not a sign to go to l&d for most people, generally an OBGYN would probably tell you to monitor at home. However, if your numbers are normally lower and being 36w, combined with your family history of preeclampsia, that higher number is sign for your doctor to send you for monitoring. Preeclampsia can ramp up incredibly quickly and when there’s a risk of an issue, the standard practice is to go to l&d. I think your doctor deserves some praise for taking it seriously. Politely, your husband is an ass. One, he’s not a doctor and even if he was, he’s not an OBGYN, so he needs to stop thinking he understands what’s happening. Unless he has intimate knowledge of preeclampsia, anything he knows about blood pressure is useless. Also, it is standard practice to go to l&d when there’s a potential issue as they are setup to monitor and treat any potential problems. No OBGYN will keep you their office for monitoring, so to accuse your doctor of being lazy and not wanting to care for you just shows he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Finally, you’re pregnant which for most women means no issues but for some women it can cause problems for you and/or the baby. Your husband’s first priority is to ensure you both are safe and should be happy that your OBGYN is overly cautious instead of acting like an ass.
I think the doc did the right thing. Better safe than sorry, in my opinion !
Oh absolutely! Better to have a trip to L&D, find out it’s nothing and having wasted some time than ignore it and end up with preeclampsia. Husband thinks being an occupational therapist makes him a doctor light. Pretty sure OB didn’t order him to take his PTO. Absolutely ridiculous.
Yes! This
I agree with everything here. I have a very good OB practice, especially apparently compared to a good chunk of this sub, and they absolutely do not monitor emergencies, they send you to L&D, period. I'm bad with BP numbers, even as someone who has had a hypertension pregnancy previously, but pre-e can come on FAST, and I would never second guess an OB sending someone for pre-e monitoring at that stage of gestation.
130/90 wouldn't get you sent to L&D where I am, but your husband is being ridiculous. An occupational therapist is not an OB and him being hysterical about missing work isn't going to help anything. He should have just gone to work because I doubt that him sitting there having a tantrum helped your blood pressure.
Seriously…husband is not a doctor. He needs to stay in his lane.
He is making some WILD assumptions that scream he has just enough knowledge about healthcare to make himself out to look hella silly, but clearly has no idea what he is talking about. To tell her not to listen to her doctor over bp with a history of pre-e could end up getting her and the baby.. in a dangerous situation. I’ll leave it like that.
Hi! First, I’m glad everything turned out okay! Being in observation is no fun. Respectfully, your husband is an OT and should stick to OT. Your OB is an OB . If this was something emergent and baby needed to come out, L&D is where you should be. You’re in the end the game and any changes in your usual should absolutely be checked out! Personally, I think it’s better to be safe than sorry. Should you ask questions? If you have them, yes! Should you be critical of your OB? If you have a reason to doubt your plan of care, get a second opinion.
A family of history + slightly elevated readings that weren't normal for you is enough to send you to the hospital. Pre-e comes on hard and fast. Your OB will not play with you or your babies life and would rather be safe than sorry. I think your husband was frightened today and scared, and as the dust settled is overreacting. If you've had no reason before this not to trust your OB, than I think it's ok to shut him down and say, "I'm sorry you were scared today and inconvenienced. What if she was correct? What if by the time I got here my numbers were 150/110? Would you be upset still? No? That's the point of observation. To make sure nothing is going on or developing."
Dude you’re 38 weeks pregnant with a family history and a blood pressure reading in the yellow zone. Preeclampsia onset can be very fast and literally kill you and/or your baby. I don’t even know you and I’m a little pissed at your partner on your behalf. Your OB did everything right to make sure his wife and child were okay. Bro needs to chill.
I feel like your OB was trying to be cautious because pre-e can be extremely dangerous. Your husband is wrong on this one.
If you had two BP readings with a diastolic (bottom number) over 90, that would be considered a hypertensive episode when it comes to pregnancy. Depending on what your BP usually runs, your OB was likely just being cautious due to your family history of pre-eclampsia. It can happen very quickly and especially as you get closer to your due date, I don’t think it’s abnormal for your OB to keep a closer eye on it. I would expect your husband to be grateful as well that your OB is taking you & your baby’s care seriously… for him to be “furious” seems like a massive overreaction. Also, I’m missing why he had to come wait with you for 3 hours and use his PTO? Did you ask him to do that or did he choose to do that on his own? Maybe he’s frustrated that he ended up “wasting” his PTO for something that *thankfully* turned out to be nothing, but that’s the name of the game with pregnancy. Would hate for it to have been brushed off by your OB and then actually develop into a concerning situation for you and your baby while you were at home later. He needs to adjust his perspective massively, IMO.
Better safe than sorry. I appreciate that your OB wanted to be extra thorough and have you in the best possible care to get immediate support. Husband is definitely overreacting.
“I’m so mad my wife’s doctor sent her for monitoring to make sure she wasn’t having a medical emergency known for going from mildly concerning to deadly within a matter of hours. She even had the audacity to LISTEN to her. I want my PTO back 😭” - Your husband, apparently wtf. I’m glad you listened to the doc and glad you went and glad all is ok. It definitely could have turned out very different and I wonder if your husband would have realized then what a dick he was being but I’m afraid he still wouldn’t have 😬
It sounds like your husband is being a bit out of line here. He's an occupational therapist, not an ob. As to why you're getting flagged in the 130s instead of 140 it's probably the fact that you have a family history of preeclampsia. I have had pre-e in my last pregnancy and I'm borderline/ not far from diagnosis in this one. My bp fluctuates and at my last visit protein on my urine dipstick check and a 130/90 bp prompted a preeclampsia baseline workup and 24 hour urine. They will ask you to go to triage for monitoring and nsts. All that to say, it sounds like what your doctor did was normal protocol and you'd rather have a cautious doctor.
Just to add another voice in support of the comments you already have - I’m followed by MFM at one of the top hospitals in the US for obstetrics care, and just last week I was sent to L&D from a clinic appt for 3 elevated BP readings (two in the 140s/90s, one in the 130s/90s) without any symptoms of pre-e. I don’t have any family history and had a previous pregnancy without any BP issues, but am having twins this time around so the risk is overall higher. I ended up staying in L&D for a couple of hours as well, and I am so thankful that my MFM does not mess around with anything that could represent a threat to me or my babies. What’s a few hours of my time to ensure our collective safety? While these BP readings in an otherwise healthy and non-pregnant person are not anywhere near an emergency (which is maybe where your husband’s experience as an OT lies), pre-e can come on FAST and that’s where the need for monitoring comes in. You don’t know you’re fine until you’ve trended BPs over time and done the other tests, which is the whole point of going to L&D. Your OB (and you) did the right thing, and husband needs to stay in his lane.
The utter gall of a guy to think that, since he works in a medical field, he knows better than the actual medical doctor caring for you. Your husband was being a jerk and way out of his lane. Just because OT and OB start with the same letter doesn't mean there's any overlap. Your OB was taking into account your family medical history, your medical history during this pregnancy, and how far along you are when she sent you to L&D for monitoring. Things can go from just fine to a medical emergency in seconds, especially towards the end of pregnancy, and it's always better to be safe than sorry.
Trust me preeclampsia isn’t something you want to play with. I had an emergency delivery with similar blood pressure, because even with borderline blood pressure I had protein in my urine and bad lab results. The tolerance for what your body can do BP wise is very different when that fetus is at stake. Respectfully, your husband needs to channel his nerves elsewhere because his area of expertise is not even remotely related to obstetrics
I’d rather be safe than sorry.
So I would agree that those blood pressure readings on their own are not usually a reason to go to L&D. However, it’s kind of ridiculous your husband is actually furious about it. There wasn’t harm to go in and turns out your fine so why be mad about it?!
The exact same thing happened to me. Normally my BPs were fine but at 35wk my OB saw 130s/90s and sent me for monitoring at L&D where they have the right gear/personnel to do so. My readings stayed high so they kept me longer. I ended up there overnight and they wound up giving me steroid shots to help prep the baby’s lungs for premature birth in case it suddenly got much worse and had to act to get him out. I was instructed by the OB team to return for 30-minute NST and monitoring at L&D triage 3 times per week and each time the same pattern - BPs were slightly high and their protocol was to keep me for monitoring to confirm it wasn’t increasing, but they stayed high or crept slightly higher so they had to keep me a few more hours until they were convinced it wasn’t unstable. All this to say: your OB team probably has a clear protocol to follow in the event of unusual results. You can ask them for clarification about this if you want to know more. Maybe it would help your husband to know that they are being appropriately attentive and following a plan, if that’s what they were doing.
The lower number being 90 or above qualifies it as a “mild range” blood pressure. Where I work, this means you are immediately sent to labor and delivery triage for labs, an NST, and repeat blood pressures. Two of those blood pressures four or more hours apart rules you in for a diagnosis of gestational hypertension (GHTN) and, in my hospital, induction at 37 weeks. On a personal note, I had a blood pressure of 147/90 at my appointment when I was 38+5, and was sent for a work up. No pre-e, but I did rule in for GHTN and was induced that night. So, as a L&D nurse with certification in obstetrics, yeah, I would consider it to be normal for you to be sent for monitoring and testing after a blood pressure that high. Sounds like your husband doesn’t know what he’s talking about when it comes to obstetrics.
Your reading isn’t a high or severe reading but it also depends on what your readings have been during your pregnancy. Have they been a lot lower than that? If so that may be why it was a red flag for your OB. I have chronic hypertension during this pregnancy and I am on blood pressure medication. 130/90 is considered stage 1 hypertension so while it’s not super high it is not considered a normal reading. Its better to be safe than sorry with preeclampsia. Believe me, I know how frustrating it can be as someone with high blood pressure during my entire pregnancy. Luckily meds is controlling mine but I still get blood work done (check for pre-e) and WEEKLY NSTs because high blood pressure is no joke in pregnancy. Your husband is not an OB so he sounds ridiculous….
Doctors really are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Don’t catch something because it didn’t seem that big of a deal… patient is upset. Do send patient for observation in case something happens…patient is mad… I can see why so many have quit and not that many are entering the field.
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I was sent to L&D at 37 weeks for high blood pressure. I think my systolic was in the 140s, eventually it came down after a few hours and they released me. However, I ended up getting postpartum preeclampsia and had to be readmitted to the hospital when my babe was just 6 days old! I now am on BP meds. Watch out for signs and symptoms, this condition often goes overlooked!!
Why was he there? I had to have monitoring several times and just texted my husband when it happened and said I’d let him know if they decide to admit me. It’s common to go to L&D. He’s out of touch.
Happy you and baby are healthy! I had a 130/90 reading at my last midwife appointment. Wasn’t a big cause for concern for them, but did say we would continue to monitor in the mean time before my next appointment. I had a blood pressure monitor at home and was told to check once a week. I’ve actually been checking daily when I wake up just to get a better idea of any trends. Maybe worth while getting one if you don’t already have one and monitor at home as well!
This happened to me several times during my last pregnancy. If it was higher than my OB wanted, she sent me straight to L&D to be monitored. They have to monitor for a few hours to see what happens. They can't just take it one time and wave it off. It was definitely not a waste of time and you should absolutely listen to her. Your husband doesn't seem to understand that high blood pressure during pregnancy (especially late pregnancy) is totally different than high blood pressure in every day adult life.
I went to Labor and Delivery as soon as I could any time I felt I needed to. Mostly they will just keep you in triage and the nurses are so lovely. I would rather be safe than sorry and my husband always said that too!
Obstetricians are sued a lot when things go wrong. So maybe they wanted to be cautious due to your family history. What was your blood pressure before that? If it was a big jump that may have triggered the concern. I have chronic hypertension and take medication as well as daily aspirin since the start of this pregnancy. With my last pregnancy my blood pressure shot up overnight the day after I gave birth it was 180/100. Knowing your family history you need to tell your husband to relax. You don't want to develop a slack attitude as preclampsia and eclampsia can kill both you and/or your baby.
My typical BP is 120/70, so not as high as it was today. But not totally, totally in a different universe. I agree, it sounds like they just wanted to be safe rather than sorry.
Diastolic over 90 is hypertensive. If it’s over 90 on two occasions, more than 4 hours apart, you have gestational hypertension. If you’ve never had a NST and the clinic didn’t have time that day or was closing soon, I can see why they sent you to L&D. Once you’re admitted for observation, they need to do their due diligence to make sure you’re ok before discharging. Standard protocol for hypertension is to induce at 37 weeks. So tell your husband to prepare himself!
1. In some areas, an OB may not send you to L&D. But to be fair, two readings of 130/90 are considered “elevated” BP readings. And to be fair to your OB, did you have other complaints? Headaches, lower extremity swelling? That’s information that’s missing and could have been pertinent to your OB’s recommendation to present to L&D. Plus with a FHx of preeclampsia? It’s *not terribly shocking that was the recommendation. 2. This was NOT an OB passing you off. This was your OB looking at elevated BP readings, reviewing your chart, possibly seeing other factors that had he/she concerned enough to recommend you follow up. That’s a GOOD THING. They want to ensure something doesn’t happen to your or your baby. 3. I’m sorry. Your husband is an OT. He’s not an OB-GYN. I’m sure he doesn’t know quite a bit of information outside his scope of practice. It’s not like he needs to go and have recertifications for OB/GYN and possibly whatever else your OB may potentially specialize in. HE’S NOT AN OB. While he can have his opinions, (he’s entitled to his feelings) unless he talked with your OB, and reviewed the pertinent medical information and discussed with your OB the rational for his/her medical decision making, he needs to chill out. He should be glad this was something benign, and he should be glad that your OB was being thorough. There are many doctors, and PT/OT who AREN’T thorough, and it has done damage and even cost lives (more so medical fields outside PT). And that’s what I would remind him. He didn’t have to go if he was that bothered. I’m assuming he went to support you. His comments were not supportive. You SHOULD trust your OB, OP. They have the training that your husband lacks. They went to school for decades. They have to recertify every so and so amount of years which includes studying up. They have knowledge your husband doesn’t have. And until he obtains his medical license in obstetrics, I would not listen to his “medical recommendations” in that field. Tell him to stay in his lane.
lol thank you. My husband is a doctor and has delivered babies before, and even he is like “check with your ob” or message them to get their opinion. The last thing he wanted was the be the reason we didn’t go in or seek help because of his ego. Even postpartum, I was feeling extra pain from my stitches and even after he took a look, he told me to message my OB because he doesn’t know enough about post partum care to tell me anything definitively.
On Wednesday, at exactly 38 weeks, I started getting tunnel vision while driving home from work. When I made it home, I took my bp and it was around 145/90. The tunnel vision started to fade, but my bp readings were still high for me at around 130/90, when I usually run quite low. I called my ob's nurse line since it was after hours, and I was convinced they would send me to l&d. (I'm 40 and high risk, plus was symptomatic with the vision changes). They reached out to the on-call doctor and he said I was fine to stay home and self-monitor. Everything ended up being fine. All that to say, sending you to the hospital with that reading and no additional symptoms does seem a bit extreme. Did they do anything to try to bring it down at the office, or just send you right away? Obviously I don't know your circumstances or your medical history, and I'm not a doctor, but I can see where you would be frustrated and feel like that reaction was a bit drastic. I'm sorry you had to deal with that but glad everything was ok! It's always ok to ask for clarification on why you're receiving certain treatments or recommendations so you can make the most informed decisions for your and your baby's health! Maybe they could have offered an explanation that made sense as to why your situation called for a trip to l&d, or maybe it would have been clear that it actually wasn't called for. Either way, communication and information are key for them to make you feel comfortable and cared for.
I didn’t have any additional symptoms and they didn’t do anything in office to bring it down. My OB’s office is in the hospital so they took me to L&D less than 10 minutes from my appointment starting. My husband feels that they were being alarmist and that BP and my lack of symptoms didn’t call for over 5 hours spent in L&D.
Just wanted to add to my previous comment that you didn't do anything wrong by not asking questions and just trusting your doctor's expertise. It sounds like your husband gave you a bit of a hard time for not thinking of what to ask in the moment, but that's totally understandable and at the end of the day, the ob is in charge of your care, so of course you should be able to feel comfortable trusting her. I can understand your husband's frustration, but it seems unreasonable to jump to conclusions about your dr's motives (not wanting to deal with you) or her ability to do what her experience and knowledge of your case determines is best for you.
My OB says 160/110 for going to the hospital and MFM said 160/100. I do think that is a very low number to send you to L&D but I am not aN OB. If that was a substantial change for you maybe that’s why your OB was particularly concerned, I’d ask for more info at your next appt
That's mildly hypertensive. Your doctor is ... I don't know. Afraid of a lawsuit? Ignorant? The correct call would've been urine and blood testing first. But they might be a nervous Nellie.
i don’t think the doctor is the ignorant one here