If you had severe pre eclampsia, have you had another baby?

[WorriedParent2345]

I posted a while back on here when I had my baby in April this year (under this user name) I was diagnosed with pre eclampsia late in pregnancy (although looking back I definitely had the signs abit earlier I just didn’t realise) after I had my baby, I was told it was severe pre eclampsia, sepsis creeped in and I had a PPH. I had a few other issues too. It took me around 3 months to fully recover which was quicker than the doctors thought, which was good. My LG is 7 months and we are doing great.

Anyway my question - has anybody had another baby after having severe pre eclampsia? Was it worse than the first? How long did it take to recover? How were you and baby?

I definitely want another baby in approx 2 years (I’ll be 29) I’ve always imagined having 2 children. I’d love my LG to have a sibling. I’m just nervous about going through it again. I didn’t have the easiest pregnancy either I was sick all the way through until I gave birth!

My DH and I have thought about adoption too so we are not ruling that out either. I’d just like to hear other people’s stories really.

I have had a debrief meeting with the hospital too and met with the consultant. She did provide advice if I wanted to have another baby, but to be honest my head was all over so didn’t ask as many questions as I would have now. She did say I’d be under consultant care, be closely monitored and take aspirin etc to lower my chances of it developing in future pregnancies.

TIA

Hi OP

I have never had it thankfully but I knew somebody who did .
She went on to have two more, with no problems through either pregnancy but there was a gap between DC1 and DC2 as she , like you, was concerned
I don't remember if she had to see consultants though or take aspirin

Myself and two of my DiLs had it in the first pregnancy but not in subsequent. My son had to be delivered early at 35 weeks but both DiLs went to term. I don’t if this is Modern practice, or because I was diagnosed earlier in pregnancy. All the children are very healthy.

I had it with my first son. I went on the have 2 more sons and never had a problem with it in those pregnancies.

I've had it with all 3 of mine, each time it developed around 30 weeks, all born around 39 weeks. I was told I'd be unlikely to have PE again when pregnant with DC2 but it was an almost identical pregnancy. I knew what to expect so didn't find it as stressful, more consultant appointments, more monitoring, daily midwife checks etc

It wasn't until DC3 that they put me on aspirin and blood pressure medication as soon as they knew I was pregnant as I'd obviously got a history of PE.

Long term it's left me with blood pressure issues, I've had 24hr monitoring a few times and Dr is currently deciding if I need to be on medication permanently.

I had pre-eclampsia towards the end of my first pregnancy, also had a pph. Was told that it was unlikely to occur in 2nd pregnancy and it was true for me as I had no problems with my 2nd. I was Consultant led and they checked my blood pressure more frequently in later pregnancy than they usually would but it was all fine. I was really poorly first time, in hospital for a week, thought I was going into renal failure but had no problems what at all 2nd time round. I can understand your concerns. Good luck with whatever you decide.

I had it towards the end of my first pregnancy (36 weeks onwards) and was induced at 38 weeks.
Had it from 20 weeks with the second pregnancy, but was monitored daily by the midwife and it only became worrying right at the end and I was induced the moment it did.

I was advised that with a third pregnancy I could expect to be on bed rest from quite early on. Unfortunately my 3rd pregnancy (unplanned, unexpected) ended in miscarriage and early menopause so that situation never arose.

Thanks for the replies, sorry to hear you've been through it too.

Tower, so sorry to hear about your miscarriage

Not me but my dsis. She had an eclamptic fit in 2nd stage of labour. Forceps, retained placenta, massive PPH, vulval haematoma.
This was with her first dc.

She waited 5 years to have her second.

Textbook pregnancy, textbook birth. But it took the 2nd birth to get over the first if you see what I mean.

I was told I was developing pre-eclampsia about 2 weeks before due date with DC 1, and that my Bzp had shot up so high I was told the safest option was an ELCS. Which I had the next morning.

I was told at the time that the risk was higher with a first child and decreased with subsequent children. Apparently, though, if you have further children with a new partner, the risk goes back up again.

Bzp? BP...

I had it on all three of mine but it usually only affects the first pregnancy. My gynecologist recommended that I was sterilised (was put at the top of the list) as he thought I wouldn't survive another pregnancy.

I spent nearly 2 months in hospital due to pre eclampsia with DS. Not sure if it counts as severe
Dd was born 2 years later and no problems

I didn't have it with my first or my third by with my second I developed it around 39 weeks and it progressed quickly and severely. Like you I had signs for a while, but nothing concrete.

Anyway third pregnancy was totally clear of even mild symptoms. I took aspirin from the start and that was the only difference.

I had it with my first - high BP from 30 weeks, pre-eclampsia from 32 and he was born just before 34 weeks. I am now pregnant again with #2, I'll have a 3 year age gap. I'll be honest, the fear of recurrence has put me off for some time, but I know I'll be on aspirin this time to reduce the risk and will be closely monitored. I'll also stop work earlier - I'm certain work stress contributed to my BP being high

I developed very bad post partum pre eclampsia after the birth of my third child. Took 6 months to return to normal after initial injections and beta blockers. Became pregnant 13 months after her birth with our unexpected fourth. I was monitored every two weeks for my Bp from my booking appointment. I had a few admissions for raised bp from 26 weeks but it settled with medication. I was monitored weekly from 28 weeks but bp was high but stable and was treated as hypertension. It disappeared within hours of his birth.

I had it severely in my first pregnancy and my son was born by emergency section at 35 weeks.

I waited 4 years before I felt ready to try again and I did develop it again but it wasn't as severe, I was much better monitored and I was induced on my due date.

Hello OP, I had severe Pre eclampsia at 31 weeks with DC1. Hospitalised for 3 weeks while I recovered and BP stabilised. Second pregnancy 2 years later (started taking low dose aspirin as soon as I knew I was pregnant) was fine up until I stopped taking the aspirin (at about 32 weeks I think), normal to stop it because of bleeding risk if the baby came early. Blood pressure started to fluctuate, which progressively got worse. But I was on the radar so I was monitored very closely, I was in every other day for monitoring for the last couple of weeks. DC2 induced on my due date as my BP was becoming very unpredictable. All worked out fine and the second time was nothing like as traumatic as the first time.

I had it badly first time and nothing with my other 2

Baby 1 severe PE and emcs 5 weeks early. Baby 2 aspirin from 12 weeks and no sign on PE. My BP was perfect and I delivered at 40 weeks by elcs.

I had HELLP syndrome which is severe form of preeclampsia at 24 weeks.
Unfortunately my daughter had to be delivered immediately as that is the only ‘cure’ - she lived for 9 short days.
I have 2 sons, the youngest celebrated his 18th birthday on Wednesday.
I wasn’t nervous about those pregnancies despite having both delivered at 34 weeks due to preeclampsia again.
Good luck

I had quite bad preeclampsia with my first baby and was one of the rare people where it gets worse after the baby is born rather than better. My kidneys started to fail which was quite worrying though fortunately they improved again within a month or so. It was all pretty unpleasant though and did put me off having any more babies forcquite a long time, especially as my sister had had preeclampsia in 3 pregnancies, each one worse than before, and my mum had had a simikar experience. Actually I think my DH was more scared of doing it again than I was as I don't really remember the worst bits very well, but he does.
Anyway, 5 years later we decided to go for it. I was very carefully monitored and everything was fine. After a nightmare first pregnancy my subsequent ones were fine. Well I had some other unrelated problems but thankfully pre eclampsia never reared its ugly head again.

I was undiagnosed like yourself (although similarly I had all the signs and was dismissed several times as being paranoid, even when community midwives sent me to a&e). I was induced for DS1 when I arrived at a&e in hypertensive crisis.

I didn’t get it with subsequent pregnancies though. With DC2 I was scanned monthly to check the placenta, and with DC3 I was scanned weekly due to other issues as well as the potential for preeclampsia. I was also on low dose aspirin with both.

I developed preeclampsia at 39 weeks and was induced in what was at points a fairly dramatic delivery. 3 years later after a text book pregnancy I had a water birth with our daughter in a textbook birth plan delivery, much to my surprise! I was concerned about the risks and was under consultant care during pregnancy although in practice when pregnancy was progressing well I think they pretty much forgot about it, although had there been any concerns I'm sure they would have been on it. As PPs have said we were told that risk was lower second time if with the same father, and as a rule the midwives were very reassuring about the risks.

Congratulations on your lovely baby x

I had Pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome in my second pregnancy. (same partner - Which is very unusual) Baby was born at 31 weeks following a very frightening delivery. I went on to have 2 more after him. I was put on Aspirin 75mg throughout both pregnancies and had no problems whatsoever. Was monitored very closely though.

I had severe HELLP syndrome which is a type of severe PE with my first pregnancy, ds1’s arrival in the world is a blur and I was pretty unwell.

I’ve since had 2 completely uneventful pregnancies.