Assessment of some cardiopulmonary parameters among pregnant women at the antenatal clinic

Abstract

Throughout pregnancy, a woman’s body experiences profound changes across almost every organ and system to make room for the growth of an intrauterine fetus with minimum, if any, impact on the mother’s wellbeing. Every one of the body’s systems evolves, but the cardiopulmonary system is the primary focus of this investigation. The pregnant women in this study were selected using a simple random sampling procedure, and the research design was a cross-sectional assessment of cardiopulmonary parameters. Study participants’ blood pressure (systolic and diastolic) and pulse rate were both lower during pregnancy compared to women who were not pregnant (P < 0.05), and their heart rates were higher during pregnancy (P < 0.05). Although systolic blood pressure hardly varies during pregnancy, diastolic blood pressure drops by roughly 5–10 mmHg between weeks 12 and 26. Throughout the subsequent 36 weeks, the diastolic pressure will rise to where it was before women became pregnant. Pregnant women have been shown to have a considerably lower peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) and a significantly higher respiratory rate compared to women who are not pregnant. Overall, there is a significant shift in cardiopulmonary parameters in pregnant women, which is crucial for grasping the typical physiologic adjustments during pregnancy