POTS and full term pregnancy

[larrygav1962]

My daughter was diagnosed with POTS in 2007 and is concerned after reading an internet web article that women with POTS cannot have children.  Can anyone confirm this?

[mgam3131]

I have had POTS for 7 years, managed successfully with Metoprolol 50mg TID (upped after 5 years from 25mg TID). Have been living a very normal life. Now I am 5 weeks PREGNANT! still doing well but I am scared that the metoprolol will harm my growing baby. anyone have any experience with this??

[KittieBee]

lovely story xx

I am wanting to have a little person, not sure how to even start on this journey :)

[Heiferly]

You may want to start a new thread (click the Post a Question button at the top of the page) and re-ask your question because people tend to pay less attention in the forum to a comment that is posted in response to an old, outdated thread like this one (in this case, which is over a year old).  Starting a new, current thread is more likely to get your question the attention it deserves rather than being lost at the bottom of this old thread.  

Best,
Heiferly.

[Loopy_emm]

Hi,
I have been dx pots for 4 years, around 12 months after my 2nd child was born. I have some days where things are okay and others where I cannot get out of bed. I have been losing, weight, eating healthy and doing my 10k steps a day and have has 'slight' relief from my symptoms.
One thing I have notices that is my biggest struggle is the anxiety that has come with Pots.
I know at any time i could pass out or start to feel terrible for no reason, and so over time i have begun to avoid going out and other 'activiities' that make me anxious.  I already have 2 beautiful children but would LOVE a 3rd. I have no idea if this is the right thing to do or not, and would really love to hear anyone's advice about pregnancy with POTS and how symptoms changed after pregnancy, were they worse? If anyone could provide any info, that would be greatly appreciated.

[Gilser]

Hi, I have severe P.O.T.S for over 6 years.i had a beautiful baby girl 2 years ago. She celebrated her 2nd birthday on Saturday.It can be done cause I did it.....
It wasnt easy but it makes me count my blessings even more.
I wouldnt go through it again and i am happy with the one I have.I had 4 teams of doctors and spent the last 2 and half months in hospital.I gave birth to a completely healthy little girl by c-section. I am back to my usual potsy self and i get lots of help with raising a busy toddler.Seeing that smile on her face every day reminds me that it was all worth it! Blessings to your daughter. life with P.O.T.s is not always easy yet I have found that i can do lots of things,just in a different way.
B.T.Y One of the best things I ever did was get an electric scooter. No more fainting in shopping lines and I preserve my energy for times when I really want to walk,the mundane stuff like shopping etc. can be done in the scooter, and people finally are understanding as when i dont have my scooter I look like the healthiest person ever yet i can only stand for a short period of time,
gillian

[evo123]

Hiya,

POTS should not be considered as a reason not to become pregnant.  Patients who have POTS can safely complete pregnancy, although they will have to be monitored a lot more closely throughout and their labour would have to be planned well or even an elective c - section seriously considered.  

Below is a link to an article written by Blair Grubb and others:

http://www.stars.org.uk/files/file/medical-articles/Pregnancy%20POTS%20final.pdf

I have not read any articles stating that women with POTS cannot have children, and I believe that this should be the womans choice.  This is not to say that there are no risks involved, so I would advise that she make an informed decision taking into cosideration the advice of her doctors.  

An important factor here would be the care she would recieve, she would need to ensure that the midwives/doctors looking after her during her pregnancy and labour were knowledgeable about POTS and worked closely with her regular POTS doctors.  

On a more personal note, I have 3 young children myself.  Although I have only had a dx for just over a year it is now believed my POTS was brought on by my first pregnancy.  If this is correct then I have had 3 pregnancies whilst having this condition.  My second pregnancy was okay, I was very tired and unwell but so are many other pregnant women, infact it was better than my 1st!!  My third pregnancy seen me very symptomatic, although we did not know the official cause, and I did suffer.  I had c-sections with all mine, the first was an emergency but the second and third were elective.  These were quite straight forward apart from several bp drops which were corrected with fluids.  

I believe, that when your daughter is ready to start a family, as long as she has support from her family and the backing of her doctors, she has every chance of having a safe pregnancy and a healthy child.

I have spoken to several ladies with POTS whom have had children and a couple of them have said they actually had some relief from symptoms, a common belief for this seems to be the increase in blood volume that is caused through being pregnant.  This said you also need to be aware that there are some who have worsening of their symptoms whilst pregnant.