Blood pressure measurement can be an important skill for health workers and midwives. It is an especially useful tool in examining:
Pregnant women
Mothers before and during childbirth
A person who may be losing a lot of blood from any part of the body, inside or out
A person who might be in shock, including allergic shock
People over 40
Fat people
Anyone with signs of heart trouble, stroke, difficulty breathing, frequent headaches, swelling, diabetes, chronic urinary problems or swollen or painful veins
Persons known to have high blood pressure
Women taking (or planning to take) birth control pills.
There are two kinds of instruments for measuring blood pressure:
A blood pressure cuff with a gauge,
And the older mercury sphygmomanometer, which shows the level of mercury.
TO MEASURE BLOOD PRESSURE :
●Make sure the person is relaxed. Recent exercise, anger or nervousness can make pressure rise and give a falsely high reading. Explain what you are going to do, so the person is not surprised or frightened.
●Fasten the pressure cuff around the person's bare upper arm.
●Close the valve on the rubber bulb by turning the screw clockwise.
●Pump the pressure up to more than 200 millimetres of mercury.
●Place the stethoscope over the front of the elbow
●Listen carefully for the pulse as you slowly let the air out of the cuff.