The hydrostatic piezoelectric coefficientdhhas been measured for biaxially‐oriented poly(vinylidene fluoride) transducers using pressure pulses having peak values of 1.8×107Pa (2600 psi) and a pulse width of approximately 10 ms. For these measurements, the sample was placed in an oil pressure chamber at room temperature and the pressure pulse was initiated by dropping a 16‐kg mass onto a plunger in the chamber. Since adiabatic compressional heating accompanies the pressure pulse, temperature compensation of the transducer was necessary. This was achieved by incorporating a thermocouple in the bilaminate configuration of the transducer and by amplifying the thermocouple signal appropriately to account for the pyroelectric response due to adiabatic heating, which was approximately 15% of the transducer signal. The calculation ofdhshows that the response of the bilaminate transducer is linear up to 1.8×107Pa (2600 psi).