Hypertension is the most common medical problem encountered during pregnancy, complicating up to 10% of pregnancies. Sometimes high blood pressure is present before pregnancy. In other cases, high blood pressure develops during pregnancy.

1.Gestational hypertension. Women with gestational hypertension have high blood pressure that develops after 20 weeks of pregnancy. There is no excess protein in the urine or other signs of organ damage. Some women with gestational hypertension eventually develop preeclampsia.

2.Chronic hypertension. Chronic hypertension is high blood pressure that was present before pregnancy or that occurs before 20 weeks of pregnancy. But because high blood pressure usually doesn't have symptoms, it might be hard to determine when it began.

Some women have high blood pressure during pregnancy. This can put the mother and her baby at risk for problems during the pregnancy. High blood pressure can also cause problems during and after delivery.1,2 The good news is that high blood pressure is preventable and treatable.