Be careful with this disease if you suffer from high blood pressure! – Pregnancy is a wonderful stage for women who decide to be mothers, for 40 weeks they feel how their baby is developing. There are many routine tests during these weeks, prenatal tests, echoes and more, however, there is one in particular that you don’t hear much about and it is quite dangerous: preeclampsia.
According to the medical encyclopedia MedlinePlus, preeclampsia is defined as: “high blood pressure and signs of liver or kidney damage that occur in women after the 20th week of pregnancy.”
What are your symptoms?
According to the Cleveland clinic, these are the signs that you should be aware of. And in case of presenting any, go immediately to the emergency room:
- severe headache
- Excessive swelling of the hands, feet, or face
- Double vision, blurred vision, or pin-up vision
- feeling drowsy
- Vomiting or pain in the upper abdomen
They can be felt as “normal” symptoms of pregnancy, but it is one thing to stop wearing rings due to swollen hands, and another is that due to swelling you can no longer lead a normal life.
There are more serious symptoms, and that are less confused with those of pregnancy:
- If you notice abnormal swelling in your eyes
- If you gain 2 kilos or more in less than 1 week
- if you have seizures
You should immediately contact your nearest emergency service, and report absolutely all the symptoms you may have.
How do I know if I have preeclampsia?
The most accurate and least risky way, of course, will always be an analysis. At medmesafe we offer you 2 different ones, which will depend on your week of pregnancy:
Also, there are certain risk factors that make you more likely to develop it:
- If you are pregnant with 35 years or more
- If you are Afro-descendant
- If you have a history of pregnancies with preeclampsia
- You suffer from high blood pressure
- You suffer from kidney problems
In case of any of these risk factors, your doctor should guide you on how to carry your pregnancy in the best way, to prevent the development of this disease as much as possible.
Diveana Rodriguez
Content Marketing Specialist for websites and social networks +10 years experience in creative writing for different fields AIESEC Alumni Bachelor of Social Communication with specialization in Marketing and Corporate Communications (UCAB)