Preeclampsia and pregnancy

Prenatal appointments are more than a chance to monitor your weight gain and hear your baby's heartbeat. They provide an opportunity for important screenings to be done that can alert your doctor to pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia (also called toxemia). Nobody knows what causes preeclampsia or how it can be prevented. But early detection can help minimize many of its complications.

Signs and symptoms

Preeclampsia is most commonly diagnosed during the second half of pregnancy when a woman is experiencing high blood pressure, large amounts of protein in her urine, and excessive swelling (most noticeably in her face and hands), though symptoms related to preeclampsia can vary from person to person.

Call your doctor or midwife if you experience:

Dizziness or fainting

Confusion

Nausea or vomiting, which may or may not be directly related to preeclampsia

Blood in your vomit or urine

Rapid swelling

Swelling of any part of the body that does not go away after resting

Weight gain of more than five pounds in one week

Severe headaches

Ringing or buzzing in the ears that will not go away

Fever

Little or no urine

Blurred or double vision, or sudden blindness

Drowsiness or inability to stay awake

Unusual stomach pains

Who's at high risk

Preeclampsia is most common during first pregnancies and in teenage mothers, women older than age 40, those carrying multiple babies, women with a family history of preeclampsia, and women with high blood pressure (before becoming pregnant) or kidney disease. If you had high blood pressure before becoming pregnant and were taking prescription medication, it may not be safe to use now. Talk to your doctor right away.

What's the problem?

Preeclampsia can lead to a variety of complications for the mother including renal failure, liver failure, hemorrhage, pulmonary swelling and abruptio placentae (a condition where the placenta begins to detach from the inner wall of the uterus before the baby is born). In severe cases preeclampsia can lead to a condition called eclampsia, which can cause life-threatening seizures.

Preeclampsia may cause a baby to get insufficient nutrients and oxygen from the placenta, have low birth weight, a premature birth, or developmental impairments. In rare cases, it can cause death.

Treating preeclampsia: medication and bed rest

Delivering the baby is the best way to protect a mother and her child. However, this may not be possible if the baby is too young to survive outside of the womb. When this is the case, efforts are made to keep preeclampsia under control until the baby can be born. Doctors treat the condition with medications to lower blood pressure, bed rest and sometimes hospitalization for close monitoring.

Date last reviewed: October 2002.

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