Preeclampsia

[FearfulMommy]

Hello Everyone, I am writing to get advice as well as to learn about other mothers experiences. I have on Son, I was diagnosed with Preeclampsia at around 34weeks. I had my son by emergency c-section when I was 36 weeks due to my blood pressure being too high. I had a little complications after my c-section, due to the doctor not tacking my uterus back correctly. So I had to have more surgery's due to this. Im terrified that this will happen again. I want other mother who have felt with preeclampsia to share there stories and let me know how their pregnancy's went and if they was diagnosed with preeclampsia again???

I was diagnosed at 35vweeks and had my son after induction at 37 weeks.

I have had three more children since. My second child was two weeks late with no problems.

But my next two I was in and out of hospital from.35 weeks with high blood pressure. They was induced at 39 weeks.

See if you can see a consultant to discuss next pregnancy. I took aspirin and had a epidural with my last two as epidurals lower your bp

Legoandloldolls: Thanks so much for your response! I will discuss this with my doctor! Did you have your children vaginal or c-section?

They was all VB. I was also consultant lead with my last two. After my first was born I thought I would never have any more. But after two years I felt ready again. As my second was quite un eventful I decided to go for my third. Even though it did end up with high BP i had really good care, lots of scans, lots of checks. I never felt unsafe. But i think i made the NHS staff very nervous! I was never left alone in labour. Always had two midwives present. I had to be monitored through out but i was fine with that as i knew it had to be done. It was all very relaxed unlike my first birth

I also bought my own test strips and tested my protein at home every two weeks from 24 weeks to help put my mind at rest. Also a home BP tester

Thats my biggest fear, that I will get it again. I know its a risk though since I've had it before! My son is now 5 years old, and after everything I've been through, I think I'm ready again. I will be asking to be referred to a specialist this time. I feel better knowing that I am not alone and that other women have went through this horrible diagnosis. I thank you for sharing your story with me!! I believe this time around will be better because the doctors can monitor me more often and can offer me more resources.

I did not even know that they sold test strips for that! Where do you buy them and where they expensive?

Ebay! No they arent expensive. Maybe £10 for 50 and you can chop them.in half down the middle. You will probably be told to take aspirin as no one knows for sure but they do think it's related to placenta formation so I took it before 12 weeks.

I kept checking for symptoms ( I felt totally fine at all times, no headaches etc) with PE I put on two stones I two weeks and had putting oedema. So i looked for that and i didn't worry about wringing my gp or midwife. I went to the gp to get two weekly BP checks.

If you get PE again, it tends to be later on than the first time but that's not guaranteed. You can also draw up a plan to say when you want to give birth or what to happen when. Going over 39 weeks is something I would not attempt again. If you was to opt for another C section you could ask if that could be done at 37 weeks onwards if your bp creeps up.

Hi @FearfulMommy, I am a midwife and deal with pre-eclampsia very often.

If and when you choose to fall pregnant again you will start with much more knowledge about the condition than the first time, and will be much more prepared. As Lego has mentioned, although having pre-eclampsia does increase your chance of having it again, the increase is small and plenty of mums go on to have normal pregnancies aftwewards. Having pre-eclampsia with you first baby is more likely than with second or third babies. One of the mums I gave care to had a horrendous experience with her first baby, with early-onset fulminating pre-eclampsia ending in eclamptic seizures... she was terrified of having any more children. She went one to have 3 more... no pre-eclampsia with any of them!

In New Zealand, where I practise, mums who have had pre-eclampsia before start taking aspirin and calcium supplements from early in the next pregnancy. It does not only reduce the chances of developing pre-eclampsia, but also protects your baby - pre-eclampsia can reduce the flow of oxygen to the baby through the placenta and result in babies with fetal growth restriction, aspirin improves placental perfussion and hence reduces this risk.

The recommendation with pre-eclampsia is to try to induce labour and attempot a vaginal birth if possible, as your body recovers faster after a vaginal birth. having had a CS, you can choose to have another one, however you can also attempt a vaginal birth for your second. If you need an induction of labour, instead of using hormone to induce you they will use mechanical ways to do it.

Feel free to PM me for anything I can help you with. Whatever you choose to do, you can do it!

Thanks so much for your advice! this means everything to me, due to being worried about it and feeling depressed about the situation because I want another baby badly, and I've been thinking about it lately.

@aurynne thank you so much for this information and I will definitely message you with any questions I have.