Pre eclampsia risk, or is this weird?

[lisianthus]

I was reading up about the risk of pre eclampsia in subsequent births on an Australian website.

I had understood that if you had it in the first pregnancy, at whatever stage, you are at higher risk of having it in subsequent pregnancies. However, what people on this website were saying that Australian doctors say was that the risk only goes up if the second pregnancy is with a different father. If you are pregnant to the same man who fathered your first child, they said that the risk of pre eclampsia goes down.

This goes against everything I have previously been told in the UK.

Can someone who actually knows something about this subject tell me whether this sounds wrong to you too?

[differentnameforthis]

If you are pregnant to the same man who fathered your first child, they said that the risk of pre eclampsia goes down

Not true. Thye think it might, but looking at all cases, it isn't necessarily the case. The risk is there, no matter what. I researched it well when I was pregnant with dd2. At times I had wished I hadn't gotten pregnant again, because it seemed the risk was the same.

My friend has 4 children. She had no issues with her first 3 pregnancies. Her fourth, she became elcamptic. Her Dr told her that her symptoms couldn't be PE because she had never had it before. (same father all children). She stayed up late one night & her dh woke up & found her fitting on the lounge floor. If he hadn't woken up, she wouldn't be here. The only difference between her last & previous pregnancies was that she had a girl

Funny enough, I and she, live in Australia.

I diagnosed pre eclampsia over a (Australian) forum once. She had all the hallmark symptoms, but her ob gyn kept saying it was nothing/running test after test/stalling. It wasn't until she had an excruciating headache one night & I told her to call labour & del that she saw another ob gyn who confirmed PE.

This isn't the first time I have sen an Australia based dr miss PE. So I would actually take what they say with large dose of salt.

[differentnameforthis]

I should say that my second pregnancy was PE free. But I took a low dose aspirin, which they think helps. I did have a scare once, but it was stress induced high BP. But didn't stop me spending an afternoon in hospital. Thankfully, I was looked after very well during my pregnancy, consultant led care etc. The hospital I was at seemed to know what they were dealing with & my GP was happy to see me at short notice if necessary. But I just get the feeling that some here don't really 'understand' PE, you know?

I don't know how anyone can even start to go on about lesser risks in subsequent pregnancies, because we don't actually know what causes it.

But the fact that it is unpredictable with regards to re-occurrence & severity in subsequent pregnancies is what is making me stop at 2.

[ohanotherone]

My English Consultant informed me that the risk of pre eclampsia is there is subsequent pregnancies but likely to start later and not be as sudden with the same father. With a different father it is like a first pregnancy. Something to do with protection from sperm either orally or vaginally. So get shagging! I did read the research article about it aswell as I had PE!

[lisianthus]

Thanks very much- that's really helpful. My family have been urging me to have our second baby in Australia, but this sort of thing is putting me off. think I'll stay put!

[Cutiecat]

I had Pre-E with my first (DS), nothing with (DD) and now in this pregnancy (another DD) I am having some signs but I am already 37 weeks. I was also told the thing about having the same partner. I took part in a study in my last pregnancy which looked at the placenta and pre-eclampsia. Not sure what they have discovered from it.

[bruffin]

I was told the same when I had DS nearly 16 years ago. I was in hospital with PE for 7 weeks. At the time I remember they had numbers at the top of our notes and were told they referred to how many children they had and how many fathers.
2nd pregnancy I had no PE problems at all, although the day before DD was born my bp had gone up a little but i was ill with a cold. DD was born at 37 weeks.

[differentnameforthis]

OP, I would talk to your gp about your concerns. If he is on the ball with PE he will know a good consultant.

I had dd2 here (Australia) and didn't have any issues. This was before I knew how crap they seem to be here, but they were really on the ball. Even making sure I had a single room reserved for me, that had been aired out/latex stuff removed & non latex stuff in it's place for my allergy.

The hospital in the UK barely took any notice of my allergy. Leaving me on an open ward, with latex products being used all the time. I was too weak recovering to care, and had very mild (thankfully) symptoms. One nurse even asked me why I bothered telling anyone I had it, as apparently, it doesn't case any real issues. Of course it doesn't...my previous symptoms of swollen eyes/throat/cracked lips & wheezy-ness were all fabricated!

It is a hard choice to make!