среда, 28 марта 2018 г.

Preeclampsia Signs, Symptoms and Treatment

Preeclampsia Signs, Symptoms and Treatment

Preeclampsia signs can be hard to spot. Here is what your doctor is looking for.


Preeclampsia signs & symtpoms, treatment and prevention
Learn about preeclampsia and Eclampsia

In this post we’ll discuss preeclampsia signs, prevention, and treatment while pregnant. Preeclampsia is one of the most common pregnancy complications, so being informed is important!


**Please do not take any information given here in lieu of your doctor’s advice. You pregnancy is special and you need to listen to YOUR doctor’s advice. This is just information to help you hopefully understand it better. You can’t make your own diagnosis of preeclampsia by anything you’ve read on the internet, leave that to your doctor. AND, most importantly, PLEASE pick a doctor you trust!


nervous about delivery day

{This post was written after I attended a seminar on Preeclampsia. It is written just like I heard it, so I could get the information across. It’s a serious thing, and I like to make sure my readers are informed. Be sure to check out my regular pregnancy posts to see some of the lighter side of pregnancy – – like this one} — Hilary, Labor Nurse since 2001.

What is Preeclampsia?


  • It is a multi-system organ dysfunction that ONLY occurs when a placenta is involved. It also only occurs in humans. It has reduced organ perfusion (which means less blood is getting to your body parts and organs)
  • It is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality. 16% of pregnancy related deaths are caused by eclampsia
  • It happens 8-10% of the time (the rate is rising due to other health issues in pregnant women including obesity, age, chronic hypertension and diabetes). That’s 1 out of 12 pregnancies.
  • It begins at conception, not during pregnancy.

What Causes Preeclampsia


It’s not well known what causes it at this point, but we do know that it starts at conception.


Preeclampsia Risk Factors:


Risk factors include:


  • Multiple gestation (being pregnant with twins or more)
  • Chronic high blood pressure
  • Diabetes
  • Kidney disease and/or organ transplants
  • Obesity

Preeclampsia signs & symptoms:


  • High blood pressure (you can just have high blood pressure and not have preecclampsia). Usually above 140/90. It should be considered that this a TREND in your blood pressures, and not a one time event. I always have high blood pressures first thing in the office. I’m often toting another kid, we have to get up and get all our crap and back only to plop down and have our blood pressure taken. You can always check your BP at home with a high quality BP cuff like this one (the free ones at drugstores are often off).
  • Labs — Including a urine test (and a possible 24 hour urine test). There are blood tests that are involved and that tend to tell us more than just your blood pressure and your swollen.
  • Swelling of hands/legs is common in pregnancy AND pre-eclampsia but isn’t diagnostic.
  • Headaches/blurred vision that don’t go away. If you have a headache that will NOT go away, you need to talk to your doctor.

I’m going to repeat that: If you have a headache that will NOT go away, you need to talk to your doctor.


Preeclampsia treatments:


  • Blood pressure medications like Labetalol and Hydralazine
  • Magnesium Sulfate through your IV (magnesium doesn’t bring your blood pressure down, it prevents seizures)
  • A lot of the other things we do are interventions due to being on Magnesium sulfate (taking reflexs, etc), the nurses are required to check your neurological responses every hour, or possibly more often.
  • Check your urine output
  • Very frequently, depending on how far along you are in your pregnancy – delivery. The only cure for this is getting the placenta OUT of you.
  • However, you are still at risk for weeks once the placenta is out, and require careful monitoring during that timeframe until you are improving.

Eclampsia is what happens when they start to seize (like Lady Sybil). Preeclampsia is what happens before that, the signs and symptoms that you are headed towards trouble.


The risk for getting it in subsequent pregnancies is 22%-35%.


Prevention


Ways to prevent it — all seems kinda wishy-washy, and don’t seem to be approved by ACOG. The ones I’ve noted are: calcium, fish oil and/or aspirin (you’d need to talk to your doctor before taking any of these, obviously). The evidence seems out on all of those.


You might have heard it call PIH, but preeclampsia is the name of choice at this point, but it’s an important thing your doctor is checking for in prenatal check-ups.


Interested in the real facts of pregnancy — don’t miss my totally free prenatal class, and check out my other pregnancy posts below that:


Did my water break quiz
Is my Water Broken Quiz

What did your contractions feel like?

Original article and pictures take www.pullingcurls.com site

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