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A rare condition that raises a pregnant woman’s blood pressure and can endanger her unborn child

	If not treated promptly, preeclampsia can make a pregnant woman and her unborn baby very ill. Turn to ConsumerReportsHealth.org to learn more about the risk factors for preeclampsia and what can be done to treat it.
	Subscribe to ConsumerReportsHealth.org to find out which treatments rate best for preventing preeclampsia and for lowering the high blood pressure associated with preeclampsia.

We’ve brought together the best research about preeclampsia and weighed the evidence about how to treat it. You can use our information to talk with your doctor and decide which treatments are best for you.

Key points about preeclampsia

• Pregnant women with early stages of preeclampsia may not feel sick, so it is important for them to go for all their regular prenatal checkups.
• Preeclampsia is considered a serious illness because if untreated, it can cause a pregnant woman to have seizures (eclampsia), liver damage, kidney damage, and stroke. It can also cause damage to her unborn child.
• However, this is quite rare in the U.S., because doctors diagnose and treat preeclampsia before it has time to progress into something more dangerous.
• Having your baby is the only real way to cure preeclampsia. Preeclampsia usually occurs in the last few weeks of pregnancy, so having your baby a few weeks early may not be a problem.
• If you have earlier onset preeclampsia, you may be admitted to the hospital for observation and given a range of medications to help prevent the complications of preeclampsia, until your baby is mature enough to deliver.
• Antihypertensive drugs can be given to help lower high blood pressure. Staying in the hospital and resting is also used to treat high blood pressure.
• For severe preeclampsia, magnesium sulfate pills can be given to help prevent seizures. Signs that you have severe preeclampsia (in addition to high blood pressure and protein in the urine) include getting bad headaches, having blurry vision and throwing up.
• A pregnant woman with preeclampsia may continue to have high blood pressure for a day or two after she delivers her baby, but in most cases, blood pressure rates return to normal after that.

Preeclampsia begins when the placenta (the organ that connects the mother to her unborn child) does not get enough blood from the mother. This causes the placenta to send harmful chemicals back into the mother’s blood – chemicals that can damage the lining of blood vessels. When this causes a pregnant woman to have elevated blood pressure and to have excess protein in her urine, the woman is said to have preeclampsia.

Between 2 and 8 in 100 pregnant women will get preeclampsia. However, with early diagnosis and proper treatment, both mother and baby are usually fine. We encourage you to read our entire condition report and to consult with your doctor to learn more about preeclampsia. As a Consumer Reports Health subscriber, you’ll have access to our expert research and recommendations, and you’ll be more confident and knowledgeable about which treatments are best for you and your unborn baby.