Preeclampsia signs include high blood pressure, protein in urine, rapid weight gain, swelling, headaches, visual disturbances, and abdominal pain. Eclampsia is a severe form that can cause seizures and coma. Delivery is the best treatment, but medication can be used to manage high blood pressure if the baby is premature.
Common signs of preeclampsia, or toxemia, include high blood pressure and abnormally high levels of protein leaking into the urine during the second or third trimester of pregnancy. Patients with preeclampsia often experience rapid weight gain, exceeding 2 pounds (0.9 kg) per week, due to excess fluid retention within body tissues. There may also be noticeable swelling of the face and extremities. Patients may experience severe headaches, dizziness, visual disturbances and agitation. Abdominal pain accompanied by nausea and vomiting, as well as a decrease in urine volume, are other signs of preeclampsia.
Abdominal pain associated with preeclampsia is usually found under the ribs on the right side. In many cases, the pains are misdiagnosed as baby pushing or kicking, heartburn, or pain related to gallbladder disease. Rarely, pain may also occur in the right shoulder due to referred pain from the liver area. Shoulder pain feels like a pinch along the bra strap. Lower back pain can also occur among other signs of preeclampsia.
Eclampsia is the end stage of untreated preeclampsia. Patients who have developed eclampsia begin to experience seizures. They can go into a coma if the condition is not treated. Furthermore, eclampsia is life threatening for both mother and baby.
Doctors don’t know the exact cause of preeclampsia. Health problems before pregnancy make preeclampsia more likely, including high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and rheumatoid arthritis. Multiple pregnancies, involving more than one fetus, also increase the risk of this condition. A family history of preeclampsia also increases a woman’s chances of developing preeclampsia during pregnancy. The condition appears to occur more frequently in first pregnancies of teenagers or women over the age of 40.
Preeclampsia can reduce blood flow through the placenta, the structure that nourishes the baby through the mother’s blood supply. Impaired blood flow in the placenta reduces the growth rate of the baby, resulting in a low birth weight baby. Preeclampsia also increases the risk of premature births. Preterm labor can be one of the signs of preeclampsia. A number of problems, including learning disabilities, vision problems and epilepsy, have been associated with prematurity.
Delivery of the baby is the best way to treat preeclampsia. If the baby is too premature, doctors will manage the high blood pressure with medications and give magnesium to prevent seizures. Fluid intake and output are closely monitored to ensure adequate kidney function and urine volume. The mother’s activity level is often limited. If the mother begins to show severe signs of preeclampsia, such as difficulty breathing, vision problems, or abdominal pain, or if the fetus shows signs of distress, labor can be induced and the baby delivered early.
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