Preeclampsia: Signs, Causes, Risk Factors, Complications, Diagnosis & Treatment

Medically Reviewed by Dr Sravya, MBBS, MS

Introduction

During pregnancy, there are certain diseases that you can develop, which not only have adverse impacts on you but the baby too. Pregnancy-associated diseases are pretty common all around the world. In Indian women, it is relatively common, too! It has been found that 5% to 15% of Indian women have shown the presence of preeclampsia, one of the scariest pregnancy-associated diseases. But don’t you worry! This blog discusses all you need to know about preeclampsia elaborately. Towards the end of this blog, you will also find treatment options and the consultation options we provide at Her Care Group for the health of your baby and you! Let’s dive in.

In This Article

Preeclampsia in a nutshell…

Preeclampsia, as the name suggests, is the preceding (pre) stage of eclampsia (seizures followed by a coma). Logically, it could be made out that leaving preeclampsia untreated could lead to eclampsia which is life-threatening for you and, more importantly, your baby during pregnancy.

In preeclampsia, the major change in your body that occurs is that your blood pressure spikes up, and there is an increased protein concentration in your urine. These changes lead to other changes in the body that compromise your and the fetus’s health, which will be listed further in this blog. Before that, however, here are some key points you should note about preeclampsia:

Preeclampsia usually shows up in the 20th week of pregnancy. Until that point, your blood pressure stays normal.
Due to its occurrence that late into pregnancy babies are delivered earlier than usual. This, however, depends on multiple factors,such as the severity of preeclampsia and its time of occurrence during pregnancy.This will be determined by your healthcare Provider
However, in some cases, preeclampsia could also develop after the delivery, known as postpartum preeclampsia.
Because this disease occurs during pregnancy, it is important that it is identified as early as possible and the impacts of this on you and the baby are monitored carefully and acted upon as required. Unidentified and untreated, preeclampsia would lead to fatal complications and is associated with multiple risk factors. These will be discussed later in the blog, so stay tuned.

What preeclampsia causes?

You might wonder why it is only during pregnancy that this disease occurs. And what has it got to do with blood pressure?

The answer to these questions lies in the organ that connects you to your baby, quite literally. It is the placenta. The placenta is an organ made up of connective tissues that develop during pregnancy, and it is responsible for the exchange of nutrients and blood between you and your child. In the early stages of pregnancy, the blood vessels develop around the placenta to provide it with blood and oxygen, however, in preeclampsia, this maturation of blood vessels fails and the development doesn’t happen very well. This leads to disturbed circulation and exchange of blood between the placenta and the mother’s circulatory system, explaining the high blood pressure during the condition.

Furthermore, since maturation takes time, it can be seen why the symptoms usually only show up 20 weeks into pregnancy. Now what causes improper development of these blood vessels is dependent on several factors, and research is yet to be done to determine those factors.

Apart from the root cause of preeclampsia discussed above, some other factors or conditions could also lead to preeclampsia. These are known as risk factors.

The risk factors of preeclampsia are…

The above-listed risk factors of preeclampsia are all health-linked, all of which have to do with interference in the process of placental maturation. However, there is a rather obscure or implicit risk factor that is linked to the socio-economic background of a woman.

It is important to understand that a healthy lifestyle is important in preventing such diseases from developing since the root cause of these diseases is poor health maintenance. This is the reason why preeclampsia is more common in women with low income. They oversee their health due to financial reasons and end up making them more prone to diseases like preeclampsia.

Hypertension (high blood pressure) before pregnancy
Diseases associated with the kidneys
History of type 1 or type 2 diabetes in the mother
Being pregnant with multiple babies
Having a history of preeclampsia in a previous pregnancy
In vitro fertilisation
Obesity
Familial history of preeclampsia
A 10-year gap between the previous pregnancy and the current pregnancy
Complications during a previous pregnancy
Mother being older than 35 years

What signs suggest that I have preeclampsia?

As previously stated, the most obscure sign that indicates you might have preeclampsia is an increase in blood pressure and excess protein concentration in your urine. However, these signs are internal and you cannot feel these changes directly. Other internal and external signs suggest the occurrence of preeclampsia, which is usually examined during your prenatal visits as well. The most common signs of preeclampsia include:

Experiencing severe headaches
Feeling nauseous and vomiting
Feeling pain in the area below your ribs or the upper belly region
Affected vision, which includes blurred vision or even temporary loss of complete vision
Thrombocytopenia, which is defined as a decrease in the platelet count of your blood
An increase in the number of liver enzymes affecting liver function
A shortness of breath caused by fluid filling up your lungs
Weight gain and edema (swelling)

Beware, do not confuse your normal pregnancy symptoms with signs of preeclampsia!

It is very easy to misidentify the symptoms of preeclampsia as symptoms that are normal during pregnancy. For example, weight gain is common even in normal pregnancy. However, in the case of preeclampsia, this gain is very sudden. It is common to not be able to distinguish between a normal condition and preeclampsia for some of its symptoms. Hence, it is so important to see a doctor during pregnancy so that they can carry out preeclampsia diagnosis processes or diagnostic tests if you have been experiencing the listed signs and symptoms. It is not worth it to overlook certain symptoms during pregnancy at the cost of your and your baby’s health.

Another instance where preeclampsia can be missed is when mothers have high blood pressure conditions before pregnancy. Usually, mothers are mistaken by thinking that their blood pressure condition will not impact the baby. However, certain conditions can lead to the development of preeclampsia. For example:

Gestational hypertension, which is similar to preeclampsia, begins with increased blood pressure after 20 weeks. However, this itself could lead to preeclampsia.
Chronic hypertension with superimposed preeclampsia. A condition in which the mother already has chronic hypertension (increased blood pressure that was present before pregnancy but sustained longer than 3 months after the pregnancy) before pregnancy, but throughout pregnancy, this blood pressure level progressively increases and eventually causes preeclampsia.

We have understood the causes of preeclampsia and also learned how to identify it, but what are the effects of this condition? The effects are nothing but the several complications that can occur during pregnancy if left untreated.

What are the complications of preeclampsia?

The first and rather obvious complication would be a restriction in the baby’s growth. As you can recall, the root of this condition is a failed development of the placenta, which is fully responsible for the nourishment and growth of the baby. If there is no bridge connecting the baby, it will not receive the necessary ingredients to support its growth from the mother.
When the placenta is not fully developed, sometimes it can just disconnect itself from the uterus. This is known as placental abruption, and this can cause severe bleeding, the results of which could also be the death of the mother and the baby.
Organ damage is another complication of preeclampsia. The lungs, kidneys, eyes, and heart are heavily affected and this is the reason why we see symptoms associated with these organs. For instance, preeclampsia can also lead to cardiovascular diseases or hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count (HELLP), such as the impact of it on other organs.
The most common complication of all is preterm birth. As the name suggests, this is the complication in which the delivery of the baby is done before 9 months are fully completed. It is done in the 37th week itself or so. This happens because the mother's body is unable to support the baby’s growth anymore. When a baby is delivered before it has fully grown, it can have multiple problems with its breathing, vision, and overall development.

No mother would want their baby to go through such adverse health problems, especially right after birth. So what should you do?

Preeclampsia treatment options?

There seems to be no apparent cure for preeclampsia, but it can be treated for sure. Through medication given by your healthcare provider, you could suppress the symptoms and reverse the effects on the blood pressure caused by this condition. This also reduces the impact of preterm birth on your baby. Due to this blog being purely intended for informational purposes, it is recommended that you get checked by a specialist for treatment options.

At Her Care group, you can find specialists in the field of pregnancy who can consult you for treatment options and also rightly help in the diagnosis of the condition. We also have a pregnancy program that covers your prenatal checks and ensures a healthy and safe pregnancy, not only for you but also for the sake of your baby!

In summary…

Taking care of your health during pregnancy is crucial for both you and your baby’s well-being. Preeclampsia, a potentially dangerous condition, can have adverse effects on both of you if left untreated.

Don’t take any chances with your health or the well-being of your child. Choose to prioritize your pregnancy by seeking professional health consultations and partnering with dedicated healthcare providers. Remember, a healthy and safe pregnancy is the best gift you can give to yourself and your precious little one.