pre eclampsia advice please...

[keevamum]

My best friend is 34 weeks pregnant and has been closely monitored due to high blood pressure...yesterday her hands and feet were swelling up and she was admitted to hospital as they were obviously concerned re pre eclampsia. She is now back at home waiting for the results of the tests they did to confirm whether she has this condition. She also has a low lying placenta. Has anyone else experienced this and if so what is your advice or experiences? I would like to reassure my friend but would hate to misinform her. Thanks in advance

Hi Keeva, i had this with my 2nd and 3rd dc's. the last time was the worst.

My blood pressure was high at 34 weeks at a check up appt so I was kept in for a BP profile where they check it over a couple of hours. It didn't drop and I was kept in for a couple of days and put on medication to control it.

I had been home a couple of days when I felt ill (headaches vision disturbances) so went back to hospital where BP was through the roof and I was induced there and then at 35 weeks.

Best advice I can give is complete rest if she can (v difficult if you have other dcs) and if she feels ill to go straight to the hospital and get checked out.

The only cure is delivery of the baby unfortunately.

Is she having a cs because of the placenta?

Yes she is having a cs. She has no other ch so hopefully she will rest also a very supportive DH to do everything for her. Thanks for your response.

I hope it all goes well for her

Sorry to hear about your friend Keevamum. I was admitted at 31 weeks with pre-eclampsia and kept in until ds was born at 34 weeks (by cs due to severe PE). Being admitted or having to keep going in for monitoring can be very frustrating when you feel well but unfortunately PE can get worse very suddenly and can be dangerous for mum and baby. She should be aware of PE symptoms - visual disturbances, headache, sudden swelling (I guess she is aware of this one!) or pain under the ribs - if she experiences any of these she should get herself checked out immediately, even if it is the middle of the night.

If she does have PE, depending on the severity (which they will assess from blood tests, bp and urine) she might be admitted, or just very closely monitored (bp, urine and probably blood tests). If it does get worse she might have to be delivered early - but hopefully won't come to that.

Lots of luck to her, I hope all goes well.

My sister had this, her bp was 190/140, they had to deliver at 32 weeks (c section), he was in special care for about a month, he's 13 months now and is lovely. It was really scary for her though.

Thank you for your replies and sharing your experiences. She has been allowed home from hospital for the weekend but is awaiting the results from her blood tests. I want to allow her to rest over the weekend so I don't want to phone her but will let her know the symptoms to watch out for after the weekend. I hope the hospital has told her all this.