Mama Scope Diaries

PART 3 & FINAL: WHAT NEXT AFTER A DIAGNOSIS OF PRE-ECLAMPSIA.

Receiving a diagnosis of pre-eclampsia does not mean the end of you..so, accept the diagnosis..Acceptance will make it easier for you to follow advice from the doctors and have an almost 100 percent chance of going through it successfully.

When your blood pressure is high, we might give you some medications to take. The aim of these drugs is to maintain your blood pressure and avoid effects of high blood pressure on the mothers's system, including kidney injury, damage to the eye's retina and even getting strokes.

When you have preeclampsia with accompanying severe features (high BP more than 160/110, difficulties in breathing that may result from what we call pulmonary edema, injury to your kidneys, etc), if any of the severe features is present, we aim to deliver you by 34 weeks of gestation. If your life is at risk and pushing to 34 weeks puts you in more danger, then we deliver you regardless of your gestational age.

The only way to ease the burden of pre -eclampsia is delivery. This is because it's been thought to result from factors surrounding the development of the placenta. As such, getting out the placenta is one sure way towards recovery.

Feel free to ask any questions in the comment box and I will be more than happy to answer you.

PART TWO: Pre-eclampsia - A Manageable Monster in Pregnancy.

Many things have been thought to predispose one to getting pre-eclampsia, most categorised as risk factors, but in depth research is still ongoing.

Some of the common attributable risk factors include:

1. An interval of more than ten years between pregnancies
2. A history of pre-eclampsia in your previous pregnancy or in your first degree female relatives.
3. Presence of chronic diseases such as diabetes
4. Obesity
5. Getting pregnant at an advanced age for the first time, more than 35 years of age.
6. Multiple gestation - could be twin, triplets, etc
7. Stress, among many other risk factors.

Most important thing for us is to always get screened. Any time you get to hospital as a pregnant woman, have your blood pressure checked.

While at home, try to have a healthy lifestyle..avoid drugs of abuse, avoid mental stress as much as possible, have enough sleep ( at least 8 hours of sleep), drink enough water.. A healthy body is vital during pregnancy

That's it for today, in PART 3, Let's find out what next, after a diagnosis of pre-eclampsia.

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Preeclampsia- A Manageable Monster in Pregnancy. PART ONE.

Pre-eclampsia is not a new term for many of us. You have heard about it either from a friend, read about or even lived it at some point in your life.

Pre-eclampsia is high blood pressure that starts in pregnancy, mostly at or after 20 weeks of gestation, in layman, 4 months. The condition affects both the mother and fetus, causing severe complications at times and even death.

Among the top five causes of direct maternal deaths in Kenya, high blood pressure in pregnancy is one of them. Globally, pre-eclampsia is responsible for around 16 percent of maternal deaths according to the World Health Organization.

The disease is diagnosed when a pregnant mother's blood pressure rises to above 140/90. A urine analysis done could show proteins in urine- thus the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia. Pregnant women may also complain of headache, abdominal pain around the epigastric region or on the right upper side, blurry vision, dizziness, and generalized body swelling at times- including even a very puffy face.

In severe cases, it causes damage to different organs including the liver, kidney, lungs and even the brain. In most cases, the kidneys and the liver become the most affected organs, with patients at times ending up with kidney failure- necessitating dialysis.

WATCH OUT FOR PART TWO: On what's thought to cause pre-eclampsia.

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