Again, see the Blue Ribbon Baby web site for more on this. Many women become anxious during physical examinations or during laboratory testing. Women whose blood pressure has been normal throughout pregnancy may develop hypertension at the time of admission to the hospital for labor and birth. However, many black teenagers have already developed the condition and will continue to have it the rest of their lives. These mothers require exactly the same diet as mothers with normal blood pressures including the use of salt to taste since their blood volumes must expand, too, as pregnancy advances.
Sodium deficiency can trigger hypertension, as mentioned previously.
Obese women are often incorrectly diagnosed as hypertensive when a standard-size blood pressure cuff is used to take a reading. When the cuff is too small, additional pressure on the mother's arm reads on the meter as elevated blood pressure. Using a larger cuff prevents this error. Pheochromocytoma, an exceedingly rare tumor of the adrenal gland, also causes hypertension. Kidney diseases also result in high blood pressure.