Preeclampsia

Risk factors for preeclampsia

Something that increases your chances of getting an illness is called a risk factor. Having a risk factor for preeclampsia does not mean that you will get it for sure. It just means you are more likely to get it than a woman who does not have that risk factor.

You are most likely to get preeclampsia if you have one or more of the risk factors listed below.

Source:
Duckitt K, Harrington D.
Risk factors for pre-eclampsia at antenatal booking: systematic review of controlled studies.
BMJ. 2005; 330: 565-567.

Being older. If you are over 40, you are nearly twice as likely to get preeclampsia as a woman under 40.
First pregnancy. If you are pregnant for the first time, you are almost three times more likely to get preeclampsia than with a second or later pregnancy.
Having had preeclampsia before. If you had preeclampsia in your first pregnancy, you are much more likely to get it next time than a woman who had a normal first pregnancy. For more, see Your next pregnancy.
Preeclampsia runs in your family. If other women in your family have had preeclampsia, you are almost three times more likely to get it.
Carrying twins or more babies. If you are pregnant with twins, you are nearly three times more likely to get preeclampsia. The more babies you are carrying, the greater your risk.
Being overweight. If you are overweight before you get pregnant, you are two-and-a-half times more likely to get preeclampsia than someone who is not overweight.
Diabetes. If you have the kind of

diabetes
Diabetes is a condition that causes too much sugar to circulate in your blood. It happens when your body stops making a hormone called insulin (type 1 diabetes) or when insulin stops working (type 2 diabetes).

diabetes where you need to have

insulin
Insulin is a hormone that helps your body use glucose, a type of sugar that gives you energy. Insulin keeps your levels of glucose steady. It also helps glucose get into your cells from your blood. People who have diabetes do not have enough insulin or do not react to insulin strongly enough. This leads to too much glucose in their blood.

insulin injections, you are nearly four times more likely to get preeclampsia. You may hear that kind called insulin-dependent diabetes.
Antiphospholipid syndrome. This is a disorder that affects the way your blood clots. It increases your risk of getting preeclampsia by almost 10 times.
Other health problems.

high blood pressure
Your blood pressure is considered to be high when it is above the accepted normal range. The usual limit for normal blood pressure is 140/90. If either the first (systolic) number is above 140 or the lower (diastolic) number is above 90, a person is considered to have high blood pressure. Doctors sometimes call high blood pressure "hypertension."

high blood pressure,

kidney disease
Kidney disease refers to conditions in which the kidneys (the organs in the body that make urine) have been damaged. Kidney disease can result from a number of different causes, including hypertension, which puts too much pressure on the kidneys.

kidney disease and diseases where your

immune system
The immune system is made up of the parts of the body that are devoted to fighting infection. The body is constantly being threatened by infections from things like bacteria, viruses and parasites. The immune system fights these infections in different ways. At the microscopic level, the immune system uses antibodies and white blood cells, which travel in the blood and target infectious agents, such as bacteria. These microscopic parts of the immune system either kill the infectious agent directly, or take it to other parts of the body, like the spleen, where it can be dealt with. The lymph nodes are another important part of the immune system. Within them, white blood cells filter through the foreign material that has entered the blood, to see if there are any infections. When you have a swollen gland during a cold, this is actually a lymph node that is reacting to the infection. Unfortunately, it is possible for the immune system to become confused and to use its destructive powers to target healthy parts of the body. Diseases that result from this type of situation are called autoimmune diseases.

immune system is too active, like

rheumatoid arthritis
If you have rheumatoid arthritis, your joints get painful, swollen and stiff. Rheumatoid arthritis is caused by inflammation inside your joints. It happens when your immune system attacks the lining of your joints.

rheumatoid arthritis, all increase your risk of preeclampsia. But we don't know by how much.
Longer time between pregnancies. You are more likely to get preeclampsia in a second or later pregnancy if it has been 10 years or more since your last pregnancy.
Change of partner. Your risk of getting preeclampsia in a second or later pregnancy is higher if you became pregnant by a new partner.

Source:
Trupin LS, Simon LP, Eskenazi B.
Change in paternity: a risk factor for preeclampsia in multiparas.
Epidemiology. 1996; 7: 240-244.

²
A pregnancy from donor eggs. Women who get pregnant using eggs from a woman who donated them are more likely to get preeclampsia than women who use their own eggs.

Source:
Lie RT, Rasmussen S, Brunborg H, et al.
Fetal and maternal contributions to risk of pre-eclampsia: population based study.
BMJ. 1998; 316: 1343-1346.

³

Surprisingly, women who smoke cigarettes are less likely to get preeclampsia than women who don't smoke.

Source:
Conde-Agudelo A, Althabe F, Belizan JM, et al.
Cigarette smoking during pregnancy and risk of preeclampsia: a systematic review.
American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 1999; 181: 1026-1035.

⁴ We don't know why. But this benefit is far outweighed by the harms of smoking in pregnancy. Also, when women who smoke do get preeclampsia, it tends to be worse for their babies than for the babies of women who don't smoke.

Sources for the information on this page:

Duckitt K, Harrington D.Risk factors for pre-eclampsia at antenatal booking: systematic review of controlled studies.BMJ. 2005; 330: 565-567.

Trupin LS, Simon LP, Eskenazi B.Change in paternity: a risk factor for preeclampsia in multiparas.Epidemiology. 1996; 7: 240-244.

Lie RT, Rasmussen S, Brunborg H, et al.Fetal and maternal contributions to risk of pre-eclampsia: population based study.BMJ. 1998; 316: 1343-1346.

Conde-Agudelo A, Althabe F, Belizan JM, et al.Cigarette smoking during pregnancy and risk of preeclampsia: a systematic review.American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 1999; 181: 1026-1035.

This information was last updated on Apr 14, 2009

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