Pre Eclampsia.

As many of you may know, I was pregnant with my perfect little boy and everything was fantastic and perfect, then all of a sudden its like my life hit a brick wall and all my plans for the future were no longer valid. At 28 weeks pregnant, I found out I had pre-eclampsia and my little baby had passed away inside of me. I had 3 lots of magnesium injected into my arms and it was the most unpleasant medication I've ever experienced, I could feel like it was burning as it travelled around my body and all the hair stood up on my arms and my head. It was horrible. I also found out my kidneys were starting to fail, another side effect of the disease, my blood pressure was extremely high and I was very close to having a seizure. Being told this while strapped to a hospital bed was the most annoying and frustrating thing, as I felt totally fine, very annoyed, angry and upset due to being told the news but overall fine. That's another thing about pre-eclampsia, you rarely know you have it as you have no feeling ill most of the time. some women will get pain under their ribs and severe headaches, but I had neither, I was still working 8 hours shifts on my feet and felt fine.
The only side effect I did have and was a tad nervous about was that my feet were very swollen, but I thought this was because of still working full time and being constantly on my feet. Zachary Golightly was born at 5:10am, 02.10.12.

I believe this could of been avoided, if there was more information about pre-eclampsia, a disease that killed my baby and almost killed me.

It is serious, and the only information I've publically seen about the disease is One Born Every Minute did a special on 'Larger women' which I am disgusted by. This programme has given many pregnant women the information that only larger women can get pre-eclampsia. The truth is anyone can get pre-eclampsia. You could be a size 6 or 26 and you are still able to have the disease.

Studies have shown that pre-eclampsia may happen during the first month or so of pregnancy, it is caused by the placenta not attaching properly. and this causing the placenta not to develop in the later months. The best example for this is my midwife telling me my placenta was the size of a small coaster, the only you use to put your mug's on so the cup doesn't stain whatever surface its sitting on. The normal and healthy size placenta is supposed to be the size of a dinner plate, and when a baby has a tiny placenta, it is harder for the baby to get the oxygen and nutrients, and when left for too long, it causes the worst to happen.
Pre-eclampsia can also cause cause the mother trouble, as if left for too long can kill her also, as the placenta becomes sort of toxic and the body either tries to abort it, and aborts the baby in turn or the placenta will start to cause the organs to fail and can also cause seizures that can be deadly.

The amount of information about this disease is disgustingly small, and I believe this has caused me to ignore the symptoms that I was suffering from. The lack of information also took my son from me too soon, and I would hate for that to happen to someone else.
Thank you for reading this post and I hope this information helps you or someone you know.

Pre-eclampsia charity

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