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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.¹

• 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 where you need to have 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, kidney disease and diseases where your immune system is too active, like 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.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.³

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

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment. ©BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2008. All rights reserved.