Some women develop pre-eclampsia during the last half of pregnancy (usually 20 weeks or later) or shortly after childbirth. Pre-eclampsia is rare before 20 weeks. In most cases, this problem occurs after 28 to 26 weeks and usually towards the very end of pregnancy.


This problem can also appear for the first time in the first 6 weeks after childbirth, although such cases are not very common. In most pregnant women, the symptoms of pre-eclampsia are quite mild, but prompt action should be taken, otherwise a variety of complex symptoms or physical complications may occur.

What are the early symptoms?
Early signs of pre-eclampsia are:

high blood pressure,
Excretion of protein with urine.
You may not notice any of these symptoms at home, but they can be picked up during regular pregnancy tests with your doctor or at the nearest health center.

10 to 15 percent of pregnant women suffer from high blood pressure. So it cannot be said that pre-eclampsia occurs only if the blood pressure is high. But high blood pressure with protein in the urine indicates pre-eclampsia.

What other symptoms can there be?
Some other symptoms of pre-eclampsia are more likely to occur in late pregnancy, such as:

severe headache,
Vision problems, such as blurred vision or flashes of light in front of the eyes,
severe heartburn,
Sharp pain just below the rib cage,
nausea or vomiting,
Excess weight gain due to water retention in the body,
feeling very bad or sick,
Sudden swelling of different parts of the body, such as feet, ankles, face and hands.
Contact your doctor immediately if these symptoms of pre-eclampsia occur.

If not treated on time, pre-eclampsia can lead to some serious complications, such as:

convulsions,
HELLP syndrome (simultaneous liver and blood complications),
stroke
Although these complications are rare, they can be life-threatening for the mother and the unborn child.

Can your unborn baby have any symptoms?
During pre -eclampsia , the fetus grows more slowly than normal due to inadequate blood supply through the amniotic sac (the organ that connects the blood flow between the mother and the fetus).

Your unborn baby cannot grow properly due to less than the oxygen and nutrients it needs to grow properly.

If so, it will be caught during regular check-ups during pregnancy.

Who usually has pre-eclampsia?
6% of pregnant women may develop mild pre-eclampsia. And in 1% to 2% cases it can become fatal.

Certain factors increase the risk of pre-eclampsia, such as:

If you have diabetes, high blood pressure or kidney disease before becoming pregnant,
Other diseases also increase the risk of pre-eclampsia, such as lupus or antiphospholipid syndrome.
If you have ever had pre-eclampsia during pregnancy.
You may have a slightly higher risk of pre-eclampsia for a few other reasons:

If any of your mother or sister in the family has this problem,
If you are over 40,
If at least 10 years have passed between this pregnancy and the previous pregnancy,
Twins i.e. if there are two (or more) children simultaneously in the womb,
If your BMI is 35 or more.
The risk increases if you have 2 or more of these symptoms together.

If the risk of pre-eclampsia is high, the doctor may recommend that you take low-dose aspirin from week 12 of pregnancy until the baby is born. However, this medicine should not be consumed without a doctor's advice.

Why does pre-eclampsia occur?
Although the exact cause of pre-eclampsia is not known, it is thought that problems with the placenta (the organ that connects the mother and baby's blood flow) can lead to pre-eclampsia.

What is the treatment for pre-eclampsia?
If pre-eclampsia is detected, you should immediately seek medical advice from a specialist. If the condition seems more serious, he will advise you to go to the hospital.

Your doctor will closely monitor you while you are in the hospital to decide how serious your condition is and how long you will need to stay in the hospital.

Pre-eclampsia usually gets better soon after delivery. So you will be kept under observation until safe delivery is possible.

Usually, the baby can be delivered safely between 37 and 38 weeks of pregnancy. But if the condition becomes severe, you may be tried to induce labor earlier artificially or with medication, or an operation or caesarean section may also be performed.

You may be given medication to lower your blood pressure until delivery.

What complications can occur due to pre-eclampsia?
Although in most cases pre-eclampsia does not cause any problems and the condition gets better after the baby is born, there is still a risk of some complications for the mother and the baby.

In some cases, the mother may have convulsions, called 'eclampsia', which is life-threatening for both the mother and the unborn child. However, this phenomenon is usually rare.