Pre-eclampsia - how long til they keep you in and induce labour?????

[wurlywurly]

Ok bit confusing but my nephews girlfriends was due with their baby on sunday (22nd) she has been taken to the hospital 3 times with symptoms of pre-eclampsia (swelling, high BP, protein in her urine) and each time the hospital have checked her out and sent her back home. Am getting very concerned about her health and also the babies health, She has to return to the hospital tomorrow to have her BP checked again.

Any words of advice???

This will probably come to nothing. Pre eclamspia is very common and very seldom leads to eclamspia which isnt so common and exteremly life threatening. If the hospital are on top of it then I wouldnt worry too much

All hospitals are different. I had ds at a big hospital and they did checks for a while, then when BP got to 140/100 they kept me in and induced me at 40 weeks exactly. this time after 37 weeks dr. will induce me straight away if BP is high he doesn't believe in leaving you hang in there.

She should be Fine, but make sure she goes straight to hospital today if she has a headache, feels unwell or had any stomach aches. They shouldn't really let her hang in there considering she is past DD. i expect they will do something tomorrow.

My experience was that I developed signs of pre-eclampsia at 37 weeks. I had a mw appointment and she said my bp was too high and there was protien in my urine (bp had been rising for a few weeks too). She made me go straight to hospital for monitoring. This was on a Friday, and they wanted to admit me an induce me there and then, but I refused. Dh was in South Africa and couldn't get a flight back, all close family members were away, and I couldn't find any room in kennels for my dogs (lol). We came to a compromise solution where I would go in each day for monitoring, but would be allowed home.

By the Wednesday my BP was significantly higher and protein levels were dangerously high, so they insisted that I had to be admitted on the Thursday for induction. I went in at 10am, was monitored all day (mws too busy to do the induction), given the gel in the evening, and ds was born early the next day (dh only just got back in time).

Sounds like they are monitoring her situation well. I'm sure if they were really concerned they'd keep her in.

I think as long as they are monitoring her closely she should be fine, possibly they haven't induced her because the symptoms are mild? I was admitted at 31 weeks with pre-eclampsia and monitored very closely until 34 weeks when they decided that the risk of delivery was less than the risk to my health, I would imagine this is how all pre-eclampsia cases are assessed and the outcome probably varies slightly depending on the doctor assessing. Hopefully they have decided that the risks to her health are negligable so are not inducing. It is possible for pre-eclampsia to worsen during and after labour so I think she should be monitored post-natally as well.

Second Uki, she should go straight to hospital if she has headache, vision problems, sudden increase in swelling or pain just under her ribs.

With me I had high BP, protein in urine and swelling. At 38 weeks they admitted me and monitored every drop of my urine for 24 hours! This showed my kidneys were doing fine so they discharged me to come back in 48 hours. When I did my BP was 160/100 so they admitted me again but again found my kidneys were coping fine. Cue the same cycle 2 days later. By this point I was going mad with the overnight admissions and they were worried about a family history of brain haemorrhages so they induced at 39 weeks exactly.

Please try not to worry, if the hospital are monitoring she is in safe hands, undiagnosed pre-eclampsia is much more dangerous.
She will probably have had a scan to check the state of the placenta?
When I was diganosed with potential pre-eclampsia I had a scan to confirm, the consultant could see deterioration of the condition of the placenta & immediately said that I would have to stay in hospital for close monitoring & arranged to have me induced the following day.

It sounds like they are happy with hers & the baby's health, at 40 weeks if they had concerns they would be inducing her.

Hopefully the hospital will have talked through PE symptoms & if she is concerned at all of course she should see someone straightaway but otherwise I'm sure she will be fine, with high BP she needs to stay calm & relaxed & I can assure you that this is better achieved in a home environment surrounded by partner family etc.

Two days before DS1's due date, the midwife found I had protein and high blood pressure. She sent me straight to the hospital. The next day, the hospital confirmed I had pre-eclampsia. I was induced that evening and DS1 was born on his due date.

She is being monitored by the hospital, so they'll know how urgent an induction would be.

Mungarra

I had 'mild' pre eclampsia with DD1. I was sent in stayed a few days then sent home again. This went on for 5 weeks!!! She came at 41 weeks naturally. Very frustrating but as long as baby OK they wanted to just observe.
Had the same thing with DD2 but only for last 2 weeks and they did the same.Letting her come naturally at 41 weeks.