Pre eclampsia risk. Feeling scared :(

[yaaarrrp]

Hi everyone. Not sure what I am after? Maybe just a hand hold or some positive stories.

So in my last pregnancy with my DD 9 years ago when I was 21 I ended up developing pre eclampsia at 37 weeks after having a completely stress and problem free pregnancy. I remember it being quite a scary time. Had seriously high BP and developed all over swelling and blurry vision very suddenly and had to be immediately induced. Anyway as awful and scary as it was and I thought I was going to die at one point my DD was born healthy and everything turned out okay in the end.

Fast forward to now. I am currently 8 weeks pregnant. I just feel quite terrified of developing it again and its making me feel really shit.

I had a huge bleed 2 weeks ago and thought I was having a miscarriage. I went for a scan at the EPU where they said the baby was still there and looked fine but I had something called a heamotoma. Id never heard of this and after doing some research when I got home. It said it was relatively common and nothing to worry about, however it could be a risk factor to developing pre eclampsia later on.

Ive also been suffering from horrendous migranes since becoming pg which I dont usually have. After looking up about migranes in pregnancy it again said that this could be an indicator that you may go on to develop pre eclampsia.

Looking at the nhs pre eclampsia page. It says you are at risk or developing it again if you had it with a previous pregnancy and also if your last pregnancy with about 10 years ago.

I just feel really paranoid that its going to happen again, as I seem to be ticking every single risk factor box. I couldnt get my first booking appointment until 2 weeks time as there was no space and by then I'll be 10 weeks. It says on the nhs website that your midwife will probably advise you to take aspirin if you are high risk. Do you think I should maybe just start taking it now anyway before my appointment in 2 weeks to be on the safe side?

Sorry for the long post. I just feel really scared and am paranoid that im some walking time bomb going to have a fit or a stroke or something awful.

Any positive stories about any of you having high risk factors but then not going on to develop PE?

Thanks

I would (and did) start taking aspirin before my booking appointment. As you say, I knew I was going to be taking it anyway, so why not start it now?

I know it's not what you want to hear, as I'm afraid I did go on to develop pre-eclampsia again. However, it was much milder than first time around. So much so, that my blood pressure started to go a little on the low side on even the minimum dose of labetalol. Post partum, I didn't need any medication at all as everything went completely back to normal immediately.

If it helps. I was told the risk is less if it's the same father.

I had pre eclampsia with my eldest, my bp got so high I had a seizure and had a stroke and ended up in a coma for ten days.

5 years later I was pregnant again. Terrified. I didn't have it though. Certain hospitals can do Doppler scans of your placenta once's you get to 24 weeks I think which gives them a idea on whether you're likely to develop it.

5 years later I had another baby and didn't get it then either

Forgot to mention that! I was also told the same, about it being less likely if the baby is by the same father, by my consultant. She also estimated I had a 16-20% chance of developing pre-eclampsia a second time. Not sure if I won or lost on that dice roll.

Thank you for your posts! So this pregnancy is not with the same father so again I guess that is another risk factor!

Will go and grab some aspirin from the pharmacy tomorrow and just start taking it!

Also wanted to ask. Does this mean I will automatically be classed as a high risk pregnancy and be comsultant led because of my risk of pre eclampsia?

Congratulations on your pregnancy.
I had pretty severe pre eclampsia in my first pregnancy, it is a miracle that me and my son are here to tell the tale. But we are here and we are ok.
I fell pregnant with our second baby 19 months later. I remember being terrified of developing pre eclampsia again so I do feel for you.
I did develop it again however it was nowhere near as severe at all. It was well managed, didn't cause problems and baby is now 10 years old and absolutely fine.
It is less likely to be as severe second time around even if you do develop it, I know it's not easy to be calm about that but I promise it was so much less scary second time around.
Hope you and baby both stay safe and as healthy as possible ❤️

I had pre-eclampsia with my first but it didn’t return for my second pregnancy. I did have higher than normal blood pressure which went a bit haywire after birth and still ended up on tablets but by and large it was a much less worrying pregnancy than my first!

Keep hydrated, eat well, get some good sleep and exercise regularly if you can, avoid too much salt and try stay calm. With your previous history your health providers should be keeping a very close eye on you. Good luck OP!

OP I am not a doctor and can't advise you what to take but I just wanted to mention that the recommendation - if it is made for you - would likely be for low-dose aspirin not the normal one.

www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/health-information/low-dose-aspirin-in-pregnancy-to-prevent-pre-eclampsia

Yes, you'll be a high risk pregnancy. But all it meant for me was I got the same number of appointments as a FTM. Just to keep a closer eye on my BP. I was told as long as I things were ok with my BP when it was time to have baby it wouldn't affect my birth choices.

You will definitely have at least one appointment with the consultant. But you won't necessarily be consultant led. I had one appointment, then was told there wasn't any point having more unless things changed, and I was discharged back to midwifery led care.

Thank you for everyone sharing thier experiences!
(Sorry dont know how to quote anybody)

Yes I had quite a medicalised birth last time. I wasnt allowed into the midwife led unit with birth pools etc. ( I was quite pressured into having an epidural last time at the same time as being induced as they said it would lower my blood pressure, but this backfired massively as the epidural went wrong and I ended up with a severe puncture in my spine which meant I was pretty incapacited for a couple of weeks after with a newborn)

I just wondered if because I would be automatically classed as high risk this discounts me from using a birthing pool etc.

Obviously I'll just go with the flow. I just want me and my baby to be safe at the end of the day

Yeah, previous pre-eclampsia is a weird one. You're high risk because of it, but as in the case of others on this thread, you might remain perfectly healthy a second time. Which shouldn't preclude you from a midwife led unit, or a birthing pool.

Your best bet would be to check with your midwife regarding possible high risk. There's various things that get taken into account in deciding that.
I remained high risk in my second pregnancy due to what had happened first time around (swine flu, pre eclampsia, fetal bradycardia, category 1 emcs)
Personally as much as I'd wanted a water birth to begin with, I felt very reassured being monitored as high risk second time around. It felt very controlled- in a good way! Had a wonderful planned section second time and it was the happiest, smoothest experience because I felt in control of the birth.
Everyone will be different though and you might well be able to have a midwife led birth instead depending on what you want and what's best for you and baby this time.
I hope it all goes well no matter which way you go, wishing you luck ❤️

I had preeclampsia which developed into obstetric cholestasis and Help syndrome with my first. I was then pregnant with twins in my second pregnancy. Twins are increased risk of preeclampsia. But didn't get preeclampsia with the twins. I did find the midwives/Dr's took more notice about slightly raised BP on my second pregancy than the first. Can't comment about consultant led though as I was under a specialist for my twins