Advice on Pre Eclampsia please

[beanster]

I had pre eclampsia with my first baby, some of the signs were missed at antenatal clinic so I ended up having an emergency induction at 36 weeks. Luckily it all turned out ok and I'm now 15 weeks pregnant with my second baby. I'm just a bit concerned about getting the correct amount of antenatal care this time round. I asked the midwife if I would see a consultant and she said theres no point till late on in the pregnancy, also she put a low risk care plan in my notes (4 wkly checks) I was just wondering if any other mums or health care professionals had any advice on what care I should expect and if this sounds ok as I dont want to complain unnecessarily?

Don't have any advice, just bumping for you.

Hi, I had pre eclampsia which resulted in em c section, and have to say that if it were me I would say exactly what you have posted to your midwife, just so that you have got your worry out in the open to her.

I totally understand your concerns as I also felt my care was poor.
I don't think you can 'complain unnecessarily' in any situation when it comes to your own baby. Have a good chat with mv, I'm sure you will feel better for it.
Congrats btw!

Thanks for that, I just felt a bit fobbed off last time and get a bit nervous with anything medical. I will just have to voice my concerns again and make sure that they are listened to properly. Thanks for the bump too!

beanster, I know it is daunting isn't it! Have always thought If I had another I would do this and that and not do this and say that etc, but when it comes to the crunch it can be difficult to say how you feel at the doctors/mw!

Yea, I go there thinking right I'm going to ask this and this, then when I get there I just take any old answer without questioning it. I'm the same with the Doctor, but I think this is too important to leave. Like you said its the baby that is most important in all this. I didnt really click with the mw last time and I dont feel like I will this time either.

I had mild pre eclampsia with my first, and was told by my mw when pg with DS2 that it is unlikely I would get it again unless I was with a different partner (which I wasn't) and I didn't get it. Hope this reassures you a bit!

Congrats on the pregnancy btw

Thanks for all the congrats everyone. My mw said different though, she said that you are more likely to get it again if you have had it once, shes not very reassuring! Thats another question I have to get more facts on from her I think.

I had severe pre-eclampsia in my pregnancy leading to my dd being delivered at 32weeks by emergency c-section. I had my 6 week check by one of the consultants at the hospital and I asked about the risk of recurrence in a future pregnancy, this is what I remember him saying:

In a first pregnancy this risk of having ANY problem with your bloodpressure is 10-15%.
If you have no problems in a first pregnancy then the risk is 1%in a subsequent pregnancy with the same partner.
The risk in a first pregnancy of having pre-eclampsia as badly as I did is 1% or less. In subsequent pregnancies my risk of having pre-eclampsia would be 10%. They cannot say how severe it would be or when in pregnancy I might develop it so I would need closer monitoring.

Have you seen in the news recently that there has been a study suggesting that calcium supplements can reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia? I haven't read the research myself but I'm sure that you could ask your doc or mw about it.

Hope this helps

Hi Beanster, if you already had underlying high/raised BP before pregnancy, then you would still be at a "higher" risk in 2nd pregnancy. But if it was pregnancy-induced hypertension the first time round(i.e your BP is normally fine) then the risk during 2nd preg wouldn't be as high.

Could you not see your doctor & discuss with him/her about the risks & about consultant care?

I have high BP & had pre-eclampsia with first preg. Am now preg again & have been referred to consultant again. Saw the consultant at 13 weeks, but not due to see her again until 28 weeks...... apparently that's when BP is likely to start rising. Other than that it's just 4 weekly checks, so sounds the same as what your mw recommended.

Hope all goes well with your pregnancy!