Or, the high blood pressure itself can be the offending agent, causing a decrease in blood flow to the kidneys, resulting in kidney damage, making the high blood pressure even more severe. Regardless of the initial triggering factor, high blood pressure in pregnancy puts mom and baby at risk for complications. People who are at risk for kidney disease are also at risk for high blood pressure. As discussed earlier, it is sometimes difficult to know which comes first, high blood pressure or kidney disease. We do know that high blood pressure is a significant problem for many Americans.
Many people are also at risk because of their genetic makeup.
Pregnancy is a time of great changes in the cardiovascular, or heart and blood vessel, system. In the circumstance of high blood pressure, the hormones of pregnancy work to relax the walls of the blood vessels, but this generally isn't enough to accommodate the increased fluid. The result is an overall higher resting blood pressure, with little tolerance in the system for stress or increased workload. Consistently high pressure can begin to damage the smaller blood vessels that actually transport blood to and from the cells and tissues. This includes the tissues of the heart, lungs, brain, kidneys, liver, and the ever important uterus.