Understanding Preeclampsia: Expert Q&A

Preeclampsia is a common condition during pregnancy characterized by high blood pressures. It can lead to serious complications for both mother and baby. Physician Sarosh Rana, MD, MPH, and nurse Macaria Solache, RN joined us to discuss. Click "Show More" to view a full table of contents of the topics discussed.
Table of Contents:
0:00:00 Introduction
0:00:39 What is preeclampsia?
0:01:25 What causes preeclampsia?
0:01:58 How common is preeclampsia?
0:03:39 Who is at risk for preeclampsia?
0:04:43 Why is postpartum care so important for mother and child?
0:06:55 How can a doctor help someone with preeclampsia?
0:08:30 How can I treat postpartum hypertension?
0:09:59 Why are African-American women at higher risk of developing pregnancy complications?
0:12:31 Is it very common to suffer from hypertension and then preeclampsia?
0:13:29 What are misconceptions about preeclampsia?
0:14:05 Does preeclampsia cause migraines?
0:14:47 Is there a connection between maternal malnutrition and preeclampsia?
0:16:14 If you've experienced preeclampsia before, are you going to get it again?
0:16:51 How do I prevent preeclampsia from happening again?
0:18:07 Is nicotine a risk for preeclampsia?
0:19:40 Is caffeine a risk for preeclampsia?
0:19:50 If you're high risk for preeclampsia should you take aspirin before a diagnosis?
0:22:08 Does preeclampsia impact the baby?
0:22:49 Should I not get pregnant if I have had preeclampsia?
0:23:52 How is preeclampsia treated?
0:24:54 Are there new developments in the management of preeclampsia?
0:25:21 What are the long term effects of preeclampsia?

[@mercedesmartinez8650]

I had preclempsia. My son is 1 month and 1/2 . Went to my regular check up at 34 weeks. My BP was high. The other nurse rushed in and said there was protein in my urine. They told me to go to the ER immediately which was in the next building. Went in on a Tuesday had my son on a Saturday. He was in the nicu for 3 weeks. He is healthy and doing great:)

[@deemondh7326]

I know this is separate from the main topic on here. But I must say that you have a beautiful name. It reminds me of that glamorous character from the 19th century novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexander Dumas.

[@mercedesmartinez8650]

@@deemondh7326 thanks 😊

[@sonjiatraffie3208]

I had severe preeclampsia at 28 weeks with no symptoms. My daughter was stillborn and I was in critical condition for one week. Education is the best prevention!

[@sonjiatraffie3208]

Fabs Kinky thank you, I did go on to have another baby. I got preeclampsia again but with monitoring, blood pressure medication and aspirin we were able to save my son. He was born prematurely but is a happy and healthy 18 month old now! He is the best part of our lives ❤️

[@jennifercontreras65]

How they found that you have pre eclampsia if you have symptoms? I have 332 protein in the urine but they didnt diagnosed me with pre eclampsia because my bp is not consistently high.

[@sonjiatraffie3208]

Jennifer Contreras I had no warning symptoms, like a headache, swelling or seeing spots. They discovered I had preeclampsia because they found my blood pressure was high then they looked for my daughters heartbeat there was none. Then my urine came back and found how severe my case was.

[@samyrecords]

Sonjia Traffie Thanks for sharing. Do you plan to have more children or is it too risky to have another preeclampsia?

[@sonjiatraffie3208]

Rubesh Samuel thank you for asking! I do have a son now. We got pregnant with him 4 months after we lost our daughter. I took blood pressure medication, aspirin and had twice weekly urine tests throughout his pregnancy. Even with the medication I did still develop preeclampsia again, but we were able to catch it on time and induce him at 35 weeks. He was happy and healthy, although a few bumps in the road due to being premature. I probably will always develop preeclampsia so it is a game of trying to delay it as long as possible while keeping me and the baby okay.

[@saralane-blackburn9926]

My daughter n love passed away June 10. She apparently suffered from preeclampsia. We had NO idea. Her sweet baby was born at 29.5 weeks. He is in the hospital. We are broken hearted. I had no idea this could happen and I’ve had 4 children. I had heard of it of course but it was never stressed to me. Thank you for trying to educate people about this.

[@teslaandhumanity7383]

This is heartbreaking I’m so sorry 😢, my daughter has this after giving birth didn’t know this was possible, I’ve had 6 babies and same as you heard the name preclampsia but no awareness. I’m so sorry for your loss .

[@Ariela231]

May she rest in peace, sorry for your loss

[@wanjikuthiongo419]

Kindly receive my Deepest condolences for your loss. May she rest in peace.

[@SF-rl7hl]

Why did she not seek medical care from her OBGYN?

[@teslaandhumanity7383]

If you have a headache, eye issues , swelling after birth , check blood pressure and urine for protein . Midwifes must educate us more .

[@luarodriguez6516]

This was super informative. Thanks for the upload!

[@chanelawhina7523]

What a great video!! Thank you for sharing

[@lulymeraz4789]

Such a helpful video! I didn’t know what this was till I was rushed to the hospital for an emergency c section at 33 weeks yesterday because I got preeclampsia 🙈

[@kimileenezzie7202]

I was beyond healthily before finding out we were pregnant, never been hospitalized, never had surgery,never had problems with BP. During our whole pregnancy I was still very healthy, no issues at dr appointments,when we were a week away from due date, signs of labor kicked in, we went to labor and delivery and ended up losing out son. Found out til after wards I had preeclampsia/HELLP. We still don’t have any answers to how this happened??????? Until after our pregnancy, we retraced everything and the only thing that stood out was at 30 weeks we were told we have a little bit of protein in my urine. When told to nurses/drs, they didn’t seem so concerned????

[@mindycao1439]

Thank you for educating us.

[@chinonsotina6367]

Thank you Docs. Very Educative ❤️❤️❤️

[@kiwinc87]

I also had severe preeclampsia and had no idea. My daughter was born at 24 weeks but was underdeveloped, she passed away a few days later. I still dont understand how this happened with no notice as I was having doctors appointments and untersounds every week. It's been almost a month now and the pain of losing her has been almost too much to bare. Every day I wish I could go back and save her life.

[@aselyne5631]

I lost mine a boy last week at 26 weeks i would give everything to have him back

[@purnimarawat237]

Same happened to me my son Born in 24 week no idea what is preeclampsia he died after 2 days last month..

[@yanishayanisha]

I had severe preeclampsia and hellp syndrome at 29 weeks and had an emergency c-section. My baby was 2 pounds and had several complications. I have never had high blood pressure prior and this was the scariest experience.

[@aselyne5631]

Is the baby ok,mine lost the fight last week to the same at 26 weeks i miss my boy

[@nenorra50]

Sarosh Rana I admire this women, I send u my greetings from México!

[@amanimoja51]

I had it too n had to undergo cs when I was 8months pregnant

[@PinkissimoXx]

Emergency csection at 30weeks , baby boy in hospital still ( no symptoms)

[@mackenziemeyer1937]

It's so sad how Brewers diet is suppressed and only pharmaceutical options are offered! Mothers, please look into the Brewers diet. Preeclamsia is caused by lack of blood volume expansion due to under eating or not enough protein.

[@ashasaraguru979]

Can you do a video on life after preeclampsia?

[@kmplolz]

I had preeclampsia and my recovery was rough induced at 37 weeks and 4 days

[@umjination4022]

I suffered from chronic hypertension even before getting pregnant. Had preeclampsia with my first pregnancy. Baby died at 32 weeks due to placental insufficiency. Had to stay in the hospital for a week after delivery as my blood pressure is soaring, I'm not even allowed to walk to the bathroom. Now pregnant and on my second trimester. High risk OB is monitoring my bp like a hawk. I was told to prepare for a scheduled CS and a possible preterm delivery.

[@Mom_of_the_Chickies]

How are you doing now?

[@kelly2393]

What if you are allergic to aspirin, is there anything else you could take?

[@feliciagrey2715]

It's not common tf... I would know.... I had severe PE/borderline HELLP. Delivered my girl @30wks

[@desifreshi]

Excellent video, however the lack of education here in the UK of pre eclampsia is barely explained. It's shocking. However totally disagree with the Dr. Stating that migraines are not linked, of course they are and this is definitely not common. Not many in fact not anyone I know has ever mentioned this. I had my baby delivered CS at 35 weeks 6 days with severe pre eclampsia. She also failed to mention that NOT EVERYONE can take asprin, I've unfortunately had gastric ulcers & due to this my body can not handle it, it causes severe abdomina pain. So unfortunately someone like me has to rise it out each week.

[@JuJuBLessedNess]

Hello, I am So sorry you have to go through this craziness of a "Disease"... My girlfriend has symptoms of pre-eclampsia it's been 2 months since our daughter was born,, she lives in Mexico and the doctors are not at all trained on how to handle or react, if you have been treating it please let me know what things you have been trying, every potential solution could be helpful!!! 😒

[@terryanngreen8814]

I just have my baby 2 wks ago and my blood pressure is high and i am on atenolol 50mg and nifedipine 30 mg......can i keep taking aspirin ?

[@iranolafunmilayocicilia8051]

How can preeclampsia affect my baby

[@meganr.747]

So if it’s caused by the placenta what causes postpartum preeclampsia?

[@ashydawn6833]

Megan R. Exactly

[@greeneyedmonstermonster8003]

Megan R. Exactly I had postpartum preeclampsia

[@Sunflowers739]

GreenEyedMonster Monster how did they treat it, when did it go away for you

[@greeneyedmonstermonster8003]

Faina Alter basically it affects your pressure so they gave medicine to lower it which took about 6 days

[@Sunflowers739]

GreenEyedMonster Monster did they give you magnesium also through IV. I’m going through it right now and I didn’t receive full 24 h of magnesium only 7 hours

[@snailbrozMC]

I had hellp syndrome with four pregnancies and lost my son and daughter at 23 and 25 weeks and nearly my own life. I had low dose aspirin and injected myself with heparin daily to prevent the clots in my placenta. I also smoked 5 cigarettes per day. My son was born at 34 weeks alive and 6 months later dx with hyper parathyroidism. My son is now 19 years old.

[@lcmrtnz0165]

Why did you smoke 5 cigarettes per day?

[@aselyne5631]

@@lcmrtnz0165 I want to know as well did the aspirin help

[@randomthings4813]

Why did you smoke?

[@biancarodriguez72]

Is it possible to have preclampsia in the first trimester in pregnancy?

[@ashydawn6833]

Bianca Rodriguez I’ve heard no. Not before 20 weeks

[@jakendracampbell8021]

Yes you can I’m pregnant now in my second trimester and I was just diagnosed with it

[@pandemic3381]

I had mine diagnosed at 17 weeks. But my case was very unusual.

[@aselyne5631]

@@pandemic3381 how did it go is the baby ok what medication did you take

[@matthewnichols4839]

I seen black and white dots, my head felt extremely hot everytime I would get out of the shower I would almost pass out it felt like! Watch out for theses

[@matthewnichols4839]

It felt like I had a extremely bad fever but it wasn’t a fever my face got red and I felt dizzy, my legs face and feet was so swollen also

[@greeneyedmonstermonster8003]

I had preeclampsia 5 days after having my son

[@JuJuBLessedNess]

Hello!! I'm sorry to hear that, My girl lives overseas and she just had our daughter, She has symptoms of pre-eclampsia what have you done to help treat yours? I need solutions,

[@greeneyedmonstermonster8003]

EMPEROR J if her pressure is high than she needs to go to the ER !! Sorry so late but that’s the best way to know

[@JuJuBLessedNess]

@@greeneyedmonstermonster8003 UPDATE- Yes, it's unfortunate that her primary physician didn't really know how to handle it, so we had to see 2 other cardiologist and had her blood tested, also did a EKG, and it turns out she has hypertension, and anxiety related issues. She is stable, and tracks her blood pressure twice a day with a automated wrist monitor & has to watch her sodium intake with most foods, ridiculous but better than a seizure 🤔🙌♥️

[@luckisleven7721]

is preclampsia caused by stress?

[@feliciagrey2715]

Nope. Having high proteins in urine & high blood pressure.. among other things. It's important to know your body & your average BPM. It's unknown to "WHY" women get it. But studies are finding out it has to do w/the male's seed & a women's body's reaction to exposure to his seed.

[@feliciagrey2715]

But stress is never good. Especially for high risk pregnancies.

[@sowmiarun3841]

Pulmonary hypertension

[@betsycollins601]

I pray my daughters do not have this when they have children. My mother and I did with each and every pregnancy.

[@animalworld3873]

We lost our baby girl at 28 weeks

[@shadyfranco8881]

She said migraine's are not related to this........🤔🤔🤔

[@mel-mel6492]

What about smoking marijuana?

[@pandemic3381]

Common? Its rare theres less than 200,000 cases in the U.S. per year. Way to instantly discredit yourself.

[@authentique5948]

Its black women, not African-American.

[@curlyv3180]

I’m sure she was trying to be respectful and you still got offended...🙄🙄🙄

[@angeloneal3834]

It’s African American

[@worldlove4584]

@@angeloneal3834 it's black women not just African American. We black British women also suffer it 🤔

[@JasmineJuiKomolkomol]

Macaria solache, she may be good as a doctor but not a good speaker. Couldn't say a word with an explanation! 🙄😑