I found it quite straightforward and I found it very interesting because sometimes, in the morning, I’sd do it before work and start rushing around, I knew it was going to be a little bit higher so I was like, let’s sit down for a couple of minutes to calm down and so it was quite interesting to look at the slight changes, especially as I became more pregnant and you get more, you know, you get a bit more breathless and a bit more sort of more weight to carry around and everything like that. It, the small, very small things that would impact it and I would notice, at the end of the week, it could be slightly higher because if you’sre a bit stressed after a week at work, because sometimes work can be frantic, you do notice that. And, actually, it helps self-regulate as well, to make sure that, actually, if that’s going to impact it to, keep it down a wee bit.

I think it’s fantastic. I would encourage women to take part if they could.

Yeah?

And I think, you know, it would be great if it could be part of general pregnancy healthcare.

Yeah. Yeah.

I do. I think it’s so important, I know women that have had pre-eclampsia and they’sve been shocked by going to clinic feeling fine and then, you know, they’sve got a sky high blood pressure and, you know, then it was a real panic and a rush and they have a really traumatic labour sometimes when they had to be induced.

What did you understand about what the study was looking for?

It was looking for whether measuring sort of blood pressure in pregnancy can detect-, is effective in detecting any sort of blood pressure related problems so then, obviously, you can see patterns and that sort of thing because I’sd have it done with the midwife, with the midwife though, obviously, I was doing it three times a week. Was how I understood it.

Yeah. Great and what did you understand about what the trial involved, at that stage?

The measuring your blood pressure twice a day three times a week, recording it on the paper chart and texting them to the text service and then seeing [Research nurse] was at certain appointments and going for a similar thing there. I think it was 12 week, I think it was 16 weeks, possibly two others, I’m not sure but there were four additional midwife appointments any way.

She said it was a pilot study looking at whether monitoring your blood pressure throughout pregnancy would allow symptoms of pre-eclampsia and high blood pressure to be picked up earlier and be treated earlier and, because of my past pregnancy, I was quite interested in taking part just for my own peace of mind as well. So, yeah, kind of killed two birds with one stone really.

[Laughs]

Did them benefit and for me as well.

So I had a folder with all of the information in and I had a read through it and sign up and then I had a, I was given a little blood pressure monitoring machine and shown how to use it and how to look back at the recordings as well, just to check that it had been taken. And then a form within recording, recording each of the recordings that I’sd had.

As well and then there was like a three page form as well that I had to fill in about exercise and exertion as well, which progressively over the three months started off as, yes, I’m very active to the, I just sit on my backside and don’st do very much [laughs] and I was kind of laughing at how different, I was kind of ticking all the boxes of how well I was feeling to day went from like a well, it’s a nine to about a two today and I’m very cross about it.

[Laughs]

So there was lots and lots of information in there and yeah, about kind of how it would be used and kind of the style of study that I was taking part in, yeah

They mentioned the study and so I readily agreed to it. Besides anything else, I just thought it would be good for me to monitor it at home.

And I figured, the fact that I was signing up to this study, would hopefully put me in good favour with the midwives, [laughs] so coming down the line, I might need something, you know. And, actually, it turned out that [research nurse] was the only midwife that I had any kind of relationship because I didn’st see the same midwife twice, at all, either at the doctor’s surgery or the hospital or the or the consultant. I didn’st, I never saw, I never actually met the consultant. I only ever had his registrars so you don’st build up any relationship with them. Didn’st build up any relationship with any of the midwives because I never saw them more than once. So [research nurse] was the only person that I saw on a regular basis and, actually, got to know.

I saw midwives up in [town] there’s a birthing centre, so it’s not at a main hospital but it’s a midwifery run centre.

Which is very good and we went along and saw the midwife and did the usual check-ups and things and [research midwife] came along to join in with those, some of those check-ups along the way. So rather than having to keep going back to hospital for different meetings or different check-ups, she would actually join the meetings together, so it would, along with an appointment for the midwife, then [research midwife] would come along and do the BUMP analysis, at the same time, and just extend it maybe by half an hour.

Which is easier when you’sre needing to get time off of work so you can combine the appointments together.

Okay. So you found that really helpful?

Yeah, that was good because it, that’s the difficult thing trying to justify time out of work, even though you have to, for, an, an employer has to let you go for maternity appointments, it’s trying to justify that time off and explain why.

The contact that I’sd had with [research midwife] and, you know, she, she came to my GP surgery so we didn’st have to, I didn’st have to go anywhere else. So kind of the I had my appointment with, she’sd text me and say, oh, we’sll meeting, I’sd text her and say when my appointment was and the time, and she said, Okay, well, I’sll be there at that time. And then she’sd normally text me and say, Oh, I’m in I’m in this room. Or, I’m not sure what room I’m in, go and ask reception. So I’sd go into my community midwife and then I’sd just go sort of a couple of doors down and go and go and see [research midwife]. So that actually, suited me suited me well.

Oh, one other thing actually, I kept telling, I think had once when I was in clinic and my blood pressure was raised but I’sd done it in the morning and it was fine.

As part of the trial and they did it again there and then and it was fine. It was just a one-off, you know. As in, I was rushing round. I’sd just had a scan. I was really excited kind of, you know what it’s like. And they wouldn’st listen to me that I’sd done the trial, I had my folder there, I said, Look, everything has been fine. I did it two days ago, it was fine. I did it this morning, it was fine. But they wouldn’st listen to me.

You know, they kind of said, Oh no, you need 24 hour blood pressure monitoring. And things like that and I said, No, I don’st.

But they kind of forced me to have it anyway.

They didn’st say, I’sve never heard of that. But they just didn’st listen to me, when I was I was showing them the folder where I’sd written it all down.

But they just weren’st really interested and it felt like they weren’st I don’st know, they just didn’st give it enough credence of what it is.

You know, they don’st necessarily know what monitor you’sre using and things like that because I know there are some dodgy monitors out there.

Yeah.

And it just, it would have been nice for them to say, Oh yeah, okay, obviously, it’s fine. If there’s an issue on Monday, give us a ring. So that was a bit frustrating.

It was very easy and on the device, I just had to press a button and everything was fine because and it wasn’st very chance of such an error there. I have taken a 100 readings or something like that, during that time, but only one time I put the cuff wrong and the reading wasn’st there but 99% of those times, it was accurate. And whenever I had, it was time for me to take the reading and then I had to go to my GP for a regular appointment, the reading was almost accurate, fine, she took that, it was good. So the device was also good because it was very easy to use and very easy to understand.