Pre-eclampsia

Pre-eclampsia usually isn’t diagnosed until at least 20 weeks of pregnancy, but it actually starts early on.  If the blood vessels in your placenta don’t embed properly into your womb, it means the blood flow from the placenta to baby isn’t as optimal as usual.  Your body tries to compensate for this by tightening all the blood vessels in your body, in order to send more blood to your baby.  This in turn increases your blood pressure and eventually the blood vessel walls will start to become damaged, creating small holes.  These holes let some fluids from your bloodstream leak out into your tissues, which in turn can cause swelling.  This swelling is typically seen in your face, hands, feet and legs.

Your body tries to fix these holes by releasing protein into your bloodstream, but this protein also leaks out through the holes in the blood vessel walls. Some of this protein then comes out when you urinate.  This is why your midwife tests your urine and takes your blood pressure at every appointment and if pre-eclampsia is suspected from these results, then a further assessment will be offered to help confirm the diagnosis.

If you then go on to experience severe headaches, visual disturbances, nausea, or pain at the top right part of your tummy (liver pain) then it could be a sign that the pre-eclampsia has developed further.  These signs rarely develop before 20 weeks of pregnancy, but are more common towards the end of pregnancy.  If pre-eclampsia becomes severe, then it can cause seizures, bleeding on the brain and liver and kidney failure.  The only cure for pre-eclampsia is for the baby to be born.  If you are over 37 weeks you will be offered delivery by induction of labour or caesarean section.  If you are under 37 weeks then the risks of continuing the pregnancy will be weighed up against the risks of pre term birth.