How to Recognize and Treat Preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is a disorder that develops during pregnancy and affects somewhere around 8% of pregnant women. It has also been referred to as pregnancy-induced hypertension (or blood pressure), but one is only diagnosed with the disorder when she not only shows to have hypertension, but excess protein in the urine as well. Usually, preeclampsia comes on after 37 weeks of pregnancy, but it can also rarely develop before 20 weeks. It can even show up in the middle of labor or even shortly after delivery, in less common cases. Depending on when it begins to develop and how severe it is, will effect the course of treatment and how you should deal with it.

The earlier and more severe it shows to be, the more probability that it can have a bad effect on the organs of both the mother and baby. It causes the constriction in blood vessels, which in turn causes the kidney's blood vessels to leak a large amount of protein into the urine, and is also what causes the high blood pressure, leaving less of a blood flow to reach the most important organs, including the uterus. Less blood to the uterus can inhibit the growth of the child or cause placental abruption, in which the placenta breaks away from the uterine wall before delivery. In addition, some with preeclampsia also develop a syndrome known as HELLP (Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes, and Low Platelets). Sometimes preeclampsia can even lead to seizures, which is known as eclampsia. Left untreated, the disorder can have serious or fatal repercussions.

While there is no set known cause for preeclampsia, some possibilities include blood vessel damage, immune system complications, lack of blood flow to the uterus, health problems (if you've had high blood pressure, kidney problems, or diabetes before pregnancy, for instance) or poor diet. Those with a family history of the disorder or who have had it before are also more likely to develop it, as are obese women and women over the age of 35. If you are carrying multiple babies or have gestational diabetes, you're also more likely to develop preeclampsia. So although there can be a number of factors into the developing of the disorder, fortunately if paid attention to and taken care of, you probably won't have to worry about severe complications.

There are several symptoms you should look out for when it comes to preeclampsia. Sometimes it can come on gradually, and sometimes very suddenly, so it is important to recognize the symptoms and know when to seek help from your doctor. Some warning signs include dizziness, nausea, sudden weight gain due to extra water retention (more than 2-4 pounds a week is considered excessive), or swelling on the face or a lot of swelling in the hands, feet and ankle areas. Of course, nausea, weight gain and swelling can all be symptoms of a normal pregnancy as well, so such things don't automatically signal preeclampsia. They are just some things to look out for, especially if they come on suddenly late in pregnancy.

There are also some more severe symptoms that are warning signs for severe preeclampsia, and many times precede seizures. Such warning signs include a severe headache that keeps returning or doesn't go away; vision changes such as blurry vision, double vision, spots before the eyes, sharp pangs of light flashes, or loss of vision; and/or a severe pain in the upper abdominal area. All of these are signs that should not be ignored, and you should get in contact with your doctor right away.

Of course, even if you don't detect the signs yourself, your doctor will be able to tell if you have hypertension and protein in the urine during one of your prenatal visits - this is one of the reason why such visits are very important.

There is no cure for preeclampsia, other than delivery. If you develop it towards the end of your pregnancy, your doctor will probably want to induce labor. However, if it's too early for delivery, other actions must be taken.

A lot of times a doctor will prescribe bed rest, if labor isn't yet an option. This is to give your baby a chance to grow and develop some more while resting to lower the blood pressure along with helping blood circulation and flow to the placenta. Most of the time this can be done from the comfort of home, unless the preeclampsia is really severe, in which you'll probably have to spend the rest of your pregnancy in the hospital for bed rest and constant monitoring.

Medication may also be involved in the treatment of preeclampsia, especially if it becomes really severe right before delivery. Corticosteroid medications help not only with improving the functioning of the liver and platelets, but also help the maturation of a baby's lungs within 48 hours, a great option if the doctor decides to induce delivery. Magnesium sulfate, which is what I was given in my own experience, may also be prescribed through an IV during delivery - this helps increase blood flow to the placenta as well as lessen the risk of seizures.

Overall, the greatest treatment for preeclampsia is delivery of the baby. It usually goes away within a few days or weeks afterwards.