Signs of mild to moderate pre-eclampsia
Signs of severe pre-eclampsia
Health effects of severe pre-eclampsia
Pre-eclampsia ('PE') or Pregnancy induced hypertension ('PIH'), are the medical terms given to high blood pressure during pregnancy that may cause health concerns for the woman and her baby. For the woman, pre-eclampsia may affect the normal functioning of her kidneys, liver, brain and blood clotting system. For the baby, it may affect the functioning of the
placenta. Other medical terms used for pre-eclampsia can include 'Hypertensive Disease in Pregnancy (or HDP)', 'pre-eclamptic toxaemia (or PET)' and 'toxaemia in pregnancy'.
Pre-eclampsia usually only occurs after about 20 weeks of the pregnancy and can affect between 2 - 8% of pregnant women. The precise cause of pre-eclampsia is still not clear, but it is thought that it may be due to an imperfect implantation of the placenta early on in the pregnancy. The theory is that less blood vessels from the placenta are able to access the woman's blood supply, and as the pregnancy progresses there is a slight decrease in blood flow through the placenta. In response to this the placenta is thought to release certain chemical substances into the woman's bloodstream causing pre-eclampsia.
However, it has also been noted that pre-eclampsia tends to be more common in women having their first baby and women having another baby with a new partner. It is also more common for teenage mothers and women over 35 years , when compared with women between these age groups. Women with a family history of pre-eclampsia (your mother or another close female relative having pre-eclampsia during their pregnancies), women with diabetes and women having twins or triplets (or more) are also more likely to develop pre-eclampsia.
Up to 50% of women who have had pre-eclampsia with a previous pregnancy will develop pre-eclampsia again during a subsequent pregnancy, but it is usually in a milder form.