Why Blood Pressure Is Checked at Every Prenatal Visit
By Candace Cooley, MD Photo by Opeoluwa Fasanya on Unsplash She was in her third trimester, feeling well and a little impatient, when she asked why the cuff went around her arm at every single visit. Nothing felt wrong, and the appointment had been ordinary from start to finish. It is a fair thing to wonder, and the answer is less about routine than about what a person can and cannot notice in her own body. The reading watches for a change that tends to arrive quietly, often weeks before anything feels different. Blood pressure is one of the few things a prenatal visit measures that a pregnant woman has no way to feel. What blood pressure measures during pregnancy Blood pressure is the force of blood pressing against the walls of the arteries, recorded as two numbers. The top number reflects the pressure while the heart beats, and the bottom number reflects the pressure while the heart rests between beats. Those changes are healthy adaptations. They let the body carry oxygen an...