Pre eclampsia, in hospital hell

[crackerjackbaby]

A friend of mine is 36 weeks and just been diagnosed with pre eclampsia. She's been admitted to hospital and has been told she needs to remain there until next weds (c section). She hasn't slept a wink for 2 nights and is missing her 2.5 yo DD terribly. She is desperate to leave and be at home, but doesn't want to endanger baby. Everyone with pre eclampsia at this point in pregnancy is admitted til term. Is hospital being overly cautious, and can she self discharge for a few nights to be with family? AIBU- yes, stay in if doctor recommends, even if damaging mental health and zero sleep. No, leave and come back in a few days.

I think she should stay but ask for help with sleep/mental health. Perhaps the hospital can do somethign that will help her sleep. Can her daughter visit?

Yes you can self discharge. I self discharged after a week for one afternoon to attend a wedding. However its risking life. You have to be very clear that you are in fact very unwell however fine you feel ( I felt wonderful). Your placenta could come away, you could have a stroke. It's very dangerous. I was 15 minutes away from hospital and it was for 6 hours but I was probably insane. You do get cabin fever and feel ok. But post birth my BP went up to 260/180 and no idea really how I still felt great but should have been dead. It's a silent killer.

What does another few days make?

I mean if your friend would rather have a dead baby and potentially die herself then by all means go ahead and discharge yourself over 7days.

medical advice is there for a reason

For Pity's sake do NOT leave the hospital againts medical advice with pre-eclampsia.

I hope (and am quite sure they have) her doctors have made it clear to her how she is literally risking her life and the life of her baby if she does so.

Pre eclampsia is crap. I had it and it affected my baby’s growth but luckily she was ok.

op the risk is going to be there whether you bury your head in the sand or not. It’s your body and your life so you have to decide if going home is worth the risk.

I went from having mild to severe pre-eclampsia and bordering on eclampsia vey quickly. I would not take any risks.

I have not doubt that if I hadn’t already been in hospital, neither au or my daughter would have survived.

Put bluntly, she would be an absolute idiot to discharge herself. PE is a very dangerous condition for both her and her child, and if left untreated both will very likely die. It is a week - rather have a week without her kid, rather than make her kid have a lifetime missing her mum. In any case, she will be far too ill and in too much pain to care for her daughter at home.

I’ll probably get flamed for this but the realities are that ‘your friend’ could go home to their 2.5 year old and end up having a full blown seizure in front of them and dying. The unborn child could die and the child would have to grow up without a mother or sibling. That choice could have a massive emotional impact on the 2.5 year old for life.
I know it’s difficult but hospital really is the best place for baby and Mum and will increase the chance of a healthy Mum and baby at the end of her pregnancy

Stay right where she is. She really needs careful monitoring so that the staff can intervene if it turns nasty.

Spending a week or so in hospital is better than spending a lifetime of grieving if anything was to go wrong. It wouldn't be worth the risk to me.

She could go home against medical advice but why risk the life of the unborn child. The NHS are stretched so they aren't keeping her in for a laugh are they.

A week is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Suggest:
Eye mask
Ear plugs
Own pillow
Headphones
Phone / tablet / kindle
Battery pack
A kind person delivering nutritious and delicious food

Have you read the thread?

Of course you won’t get flamed

it is what we are all saying!

Thanks everyone, appreciate your replies. I like the care package suggestions.

Please ask your friend to read this post

I would say stay, it's just not worth the risk.
I went to the midwife at 37 weeks pregnant to be told my blood pressure was sky high and to get to hospital immediately. I didn't even get to say bye to my 18 month old, When I got to hospital they confirmed it was pre-eclampsia and it was still sky high. They were surprised that I hadn't had any symptoms (I had, I had gone to hospital the week before with such a migraine I couldn't open my eyes, they didnt even check blood pressure just said that as I had covid at the time it was that and would take a few weeks for the headaches to go).
I ended up having a c section that night she was born very small and had problems getting her temperature up. She is still tiny now , 8 months on.

My blood pressure stayed high snd I admit I ended up discharging myself and they wanted me to stay in a couple of weeks. In the end took about 2 months for my blood pressure to return to normal.

I'm glad I Went to hospital that day. I dread to think what would have happened if I hadn't.

I spent the last four weeks of pregnancy in hospital due to high blood pressure. I didn’t realise how dangerous it was until one of the women who was in with the same developed eclampsia. She went from perfectly ok to fitting within 15 mins . She was rushed into theatre and baby delivered then spent two days in ICU. She recovered fully but I realised that you have to take it seriously when advised to stay in.
I never developed pre eclampsia, I was allowed out over night when DH was going to be home with me but he was given strict instructions not to leave me on my own and any sign of problems to take me straight back in.

It's very dangerous and should be monitored. Apart from anything why on earth would she want to go against medical advise?

I was in hospital for 6 weeks with hypertension that turned into preeclampsia. I know the pain of being on a busy ward with no sleep and a toddler at home but the situation is just what it is and the priority categorically has to be the baby.

Ear buds, pillow from home, laptop or ipad for movies, books and try to just accept that's where you are for now

I was admitted at 36 weeks and told I’d be there until term. C-section the next day! I thought I’d be there 4 miserable weeks.

She knows that she and the baby might die right?
Is it worth it?

I had 3 weeks in hospital with both of my pregnancies due to pre eclampsia. They let me leave for a few hours in between checks (I had them every 3 hours) but that’s the only time I considered leaving. And even then I stayed in hospital grounds. Both of mine were delivered at 37 weeks exactly.

A patient of mine left with pre eclampsia, came back 25 hours later with Eclampsia, fitting. Baby very really didn't make it and she spent 4 weeks in icu.

This.

I went in Tuesday morning for a hysterectomy and was home Tuesday evening.

Obviously I'm recovering and I'm not fully fit and well but they only keep you in if medically you need to be there.

They aren't giving her a precious nhs bed for the sake of their health!

How infuriating for you as health staff this must be. She put her own and child's health at high risk, made the situation a million times worse than it needed to be just because 'she knows best'.

Being alive herself too.

Pre eclampsia is very serious. My friend lost her baby to this and when her baby was first born she was on a ward with other women complaining that they were being held in hospital unnecessarily which was awful for her to hear as her newborn fought for their life. Baby unfortunately died with 2 days and she often tells this story and how she wishes that all she had to worry about then was being kept in for monitoring.

My advice would be for her to stay if she has been advised, as it is very serious, and don’t complain on an open ward as there could be someone next to her who will experience the most severe complications of pre eclampsia.