systolic pressure of 160 mm, is ordinarily the danger limit.

Newell [Footnote: Newell, h. S.: The Blood Pressure During
Pregnancy, THE JOURNAL A. M. A., Jan. 30, 1915, p. 393.] has studied
the blood pressure during normal pregnancy, and finds that when the
systolic pressure is persistently below 100, the patient is far
below par, and that the condition should be improved in order for
her to withstand the strain of parturition. When the systolic
pressure is above 130, the patient should be carefully watched, and
he thinks that 150 is the danger line. Some pregnant women have an
increasing rise in blood pressure throughout the pregnancy, without
albuminuria. In other cases this rise is followed by the appearance
of albumin in the urine. Thirty-nine of the patients studied by
Newell had albumin in the urine without increase in blood pressure;
hence he believes that a slight amount of albumin may not be
accompanied by other symptoms. Five patients had a blood pressure of
140 or over throughout their pregnancy, and in only one of these
patients was albumin found. All passed through labor normally,
showing that a blood pressure below 150 may not necessarily be
indicative of a serious condition; but a patient who has a systolic
pressure over 135 must certainly be carefully watched. A fact
brought out by Newell's investigations is very important, namely,
that a continuously increased blood pressure is not as indicative of
trouble as when a blood pressure has been low and later suddenly
rises.

Hirst [Footnote: Hirst: Pennsylvania Med. Jour., May, 1915, p. 615.]
also urges that a high blood pressure in pregnancy does not
necessarily represent a toxemia, and also that a serious toxemia can
occur with a blood pressure of 130 or lower, although such instances