Charlotte
Charlotte was diagnosed with high blood pressure between pregnancies. During her most recent pregnancy, her blood pressure initially fell but began to rise again at around 30 weeks, and she was started on medication. She also experienced palpitations. At 37 weeks, she was induced and had a vaginal birth. She and her baby were discharged on day five but were later readmitted after her daughter developed an infection and needed antibiotics. Charlotte’s blood pressure medication was discontinued eight weeks after giving birth, however home readings show that her blood pressure remains elevated. Clips read by an actor.
Charlotte, who is White British, has four children (aged 13, 10, 8 and 5 months). She is the full-time carer for her children, three of whom have additional needs. Charlotte has a partner, although they do not live together.
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Charlotte was diagnosed with raised blood pressure prior to becoming pregnant with her last baby. Her blood pressure initially dropped in early pregnancy but then crept back up again and she was started on medication at 30 weeks. She then had to go into the hospital twice a week for monitoring which was difficult to manage with caring for her children. She had been monitoring her blood pressure at home but stopped as she didn’t see the point if she was still having to go in to be checked.
Charlotte also experienced palpitations while pregnant and was admitted to hospital for two days for observation. She was eventually told that it was a panic attack, though Charlotte disagrees and thinks it was related to her blood pressure. Although her blood pressure was fine while she was in hospital, she attributes this to the fact that she was laying down the whole time.
Charlotte was induced at 37 weeks and had a vaginal birth. Her baby appeared healthy at first, but then developed jaundice and lost weight in the first few days after birth. They were discharged on day five but were readmitted two days later after her daughter was found to have an infection and needed antibiotics. Charlotte's daughter was slow to gain weight in the early weeks, which Charlotte felt healthcare professionals attributed to her breastfeeding. She felt pressured to switch to formula, but persevered with breastfeeding as she felt confident that she was producing enough milk with it being her fourth baby. Her daughter was later diagnosed with tongue tie, and once this was treated her weight gain improved.
After giving birth Charlotte’s blood pressure was difficult to control and her medications were initially increased before being discontinued at eight weeks. However, Charlotte has been checking her blood pressure at home and says it’s still high, though she feels her health care providers aren’t taking it as seriously because she is no longer pregnant. Charlotte is planning to go back to the doctor to challenge this and has read clinical guidelines on blood pressure management in preparation.
Charlotte hasn’t found pregnancy or caring for her baby difficult, however an ongoing custody dispute with her abusive ex-husband, lack of family support, and caring for four children, three of whom have complex needs, are a source of constant stress that she thinks exacerbated her blood pressure. Charlotte was referred to perinatal mental health and domestic abuse support services and completed eight weeks of counselling but did not find any of it particularly helpful. She said what she really needs is practical support to help her manage the challenges she faces, rather than "sitting, having a cup of tea and chatting to someone for an hour". She also feels that because she comes across as strong, people don’t appreciate how difficult things can be for her.
Charlotte says she has no time to look after herself, describing the idea as "crazy talk". She finds it difficult to eat healthily because her children's restrictive eating habits mean they prefer "beige food", and says cooking also requires executive functioning skills that she finds challenging because she has ADHD. She also struggles to find the time, energy and motivation to exercise. And while Charlotte is concerned about her own long-term cardiovascular health and that of her daughter, she worries that too much emphasis is placed on what mothers eat, or how much they exercise, placing the blame on them while overlooking other potential factors that are beyond their control.
Charlotte, whose children are autistic and prefer “beige food”, explains that she doesn’t have the time or energy to cook additional meals for herself (read by an actor).
Charlotte, whose children are autistic and prefer “beige food”, explains that she doesn’t have the time or energy to cook additional meals for herself (read by an actor).
My diet's horrific and always has been, but I've been like that since for the last 20 years... I mean my diet's not terrible, like I don't live on takeaways and stuff like that. I just have a limited diet. I also have ADHD, so the executive function to cook a meal just for one person or and obviously the kids are autistic, so they live on a pretty beige plain diet like it tends to be cooked for them and then I'll add some veg in depending what veg each person eats and then add my own veg in, obviously. But I think because their diet is so limited, I'm not going to cook a nice fancy meal just for me. By the time it gets to the evening, I've got no desire to cook for anyone at all, let alone cook, start cooking loads of separate meals.
Charlotte worried that too much focus on diet and exercise could lead healthcare professionals to overlook other possible causes of high blood pressure (read by an actor).
Charlotte worried that too much focus on diet and exercise could lead healthcare professionals to overlook other possible causes of high blood pressure (read by an actor).
There’s no, like, consideration for actually there might be, like, an actual real condition causing it. And I think that’s more the worry, not: oh, you’ve had too much salt in your diet. You’ve not ran a marathon this week. Like, what if there’s actually something seriously wrong that’s causing the high blood pressure? But everyone’s so focused on... it goes back to that everyone was so focused on the pre-eclampsia, everyone’s so focused on blaming, oh, you... me, for not going for a jog every morning, that we’re ignoring the possibility it could actually be loads of other things.