To ask you about pre-eclampsia....

[sittingonacornflake]

So I guess this is kind of a TAAT but I didn't want to derail the other one....

I've been reading the thread about what's the most dangerous thing you've survived and noticed quite a few people said pre-eclampsia.

I had pre-eclampsia and other than enduring a 5 night stay in hospital after the birth for monitoring I didn't notice that I had it.

AIBU that I don't really know much about pre-eclampsia.... is it really dangerous once it's been diagnosed and you are monitored / on blood pressure tablets?

I feel silly, given that I had it, not to know this....

To those who asked my understanding is that PE is common 10% in first pg's and shouldn't occur again (more later on exclusions) but if it does it may mean you have a pre-dispersion to it.

It Is familial so if your female relatives gave had it you could. If you are a female child born of a PE pg are more likely . If you are a male child born of a PE oh your partner is more likely to suffer. Any first pg with new partner

The team that looked after me has been doing research for over 30 years and while they have made some great strides into predicting and treating I think even they have still to come up with a definitive answer ( would love to be corrected as I haven't read any of their research for a while

My midwife saved my life

I popped in for a routine appointment, and she said I looked small and measured the bump. She said it was small but within parameters and took my bp. It was a little,bit high bit within parameters and I was wellknown for white coat syndrome.

It would have been so easy for her to send me home and tell me not to worry. But she had a gut feeling something was going amiss. She told me to go home (not back to work) and relax, take tomorrow off too and she’d send someone to do a home visit and check my bp again. At the time I was so cross with her. I had bloody loads to do and there was NOTHING wrong with me.

The midwife came next day checked me over and sent me straight to hospital. I spent the next few weeks in and out of hospital with severe PE. Had a premature baby and ended up in intensive care with HELLP. (Systolic BP well over 200 if I recall they wouldn’t let me see the monitor, but I caught a glimpse... they wouldn’t tell me the diastolic)

We’re both OK now, 10 years later. But dd will be an only. I was categorically warned off trying for another. And DH has had the snip.

My DM had PE in her first pregnancy of 3, which wad me. My sister did not get PE in either pregnsncy
As my previous post I had it in my first pregnancy. My 2nd the day before dd was born at 37 weeks my bp wad raised but not a lot and i had a bad cold.

I heard similar Oldraver. Had it first pregnancy, told I was unlikely to have it again. Had it second pregnancy, told I would probably have it if I had a third baby. Not risking PE a third time! It's so dangerous.

I know someone who had a seizure and nearly died. Luckily that seizure happened at her GP surgery and she was rushed to hospital. She had an emergency C-section but didn't regain consciousness until days later she was so ill. If that seizure had happened before she left the house she'd not be found for hours and both her and baby would almost certainly have died. Frightening stuff.

The day before my DS was born a former colleague under the same team had a seizure and stroke which took her a long time to recover from. Both our babies were in SCBU and she could only visit for an hour a day

I have no plans for a second anyway but if I'm the future I changed my mind on this.... well, I'm not sure I'm brave enough to risk it! This thread has terrified me.

It is really serious. I think I did have it by the time I gave birth. I had swollen hands and fingers, my BP was on the very cusp of it having gone up from normal at the start of my pregnancy and I had both GD and obstetric cholestasis which are connected to it. Three monitoring on a row they found trace protein in my urine and every tune they insisted it was cross contamination. In the end I got slight pain under my ribs and was told to go in for monitoring. I was 36+5 so took my hospital bag in and basically refused to leave. They still didn't want to bring my section forward (it was booked for a week later) until they got my latest liver tests back at which point they went a bit pale and said they'd decided to bring my section forward after all. I had the placenta looked at afterwards abs the consultant said that she didn't think I actually had it at the point I gave birth but she didn't think they could have left it any later.

Still - straightforward section, a beautiful healthy baby and everything back to normal immediately once I had given birth, so I can't complain. It is pretty serious though, OP.

I didn't have PE, but I do get raised BP when I'm pregnant and post partum. My GP warned me that things that happen in pregnancy are a window into your later life. So PE/high BP is a warning that you'll likely suffer high BP when you're older. Gestational Diabetes- more likely to be diabetic when you're older. No idea how true it is, but worth knowing for all of you that have suffered from PE.

Sorry to hear of all the lost babies too.

I had ridiculous water retention, called triage as it was a bit unusual (I’d literally swelled up like a balloon) and they had me in to check on me. There was a teeny bit of protein in my urine, but not enough to worry about but they kept me in anyway as I was higher risk due to having twins. Every time they took my bp they did it again immediately afterwards, and they did steroid injections as I was 36 weeks. On the 2nd day in hospital they did my bp, then decided they needed to get the babies out that day.

I don’t remember knowing I had pe, apart from swelling up and being a bit fuzzy I had no idea, and called in on the off chance because I thought it was normal pregnancy struggles. My notes after we’d been discharged said pre eclampsia - severe, but I still don’t know what that means in terms of any danger to me/us, and if there’s any risks to future pregnancies. My DTs are 9 months old now, does anyone know if I’d be able to have a delivery debrief now or is it too late?

User128 I also had GD and Obstectric Cholestasis..... I didn't know they were connected to PE

I think I must of rattled all the drugs I was on