Helen's story

APEC has been a great help to me. I would recommend anyone who has suffered, is suffering or has close family who has suffered, to contact them. I was completely ignorant of the dangers of pre-eclampsia in my first pregnancy. Thanks to APEC, I knew what to look out for in my second pregnancy. This is my story:

My first pregnancy was progressing well. I was having regular checks and all seemed fine.

At about 30 weeks, I started to put on a lot of weight, between 2 ½ and 5 lbs a week. At my 32 week check my GP said that my blood pressure was up. I was also developing oedema (swelling).

(raised blood pressure and swelling, particularly of the ankles, is not particularly unusual in late pregnancy. This is one of the problems with pre-eclampsia. However, in the case of pre-eclampsia, the blood pressure is often well above normal pregnancy levels and the swelling is more severe, and can affect hands, face, and legs)

As my mother had suffered pre-eclampsia twice (known better then, and sometimes now, as toxaemia) my GP referred me to a consultant at the local maternity hospital. I thought this was good, as I should have been in the care of someone who knew about pre-eclampsia and would take proper care of me and my baby.

I knew nothing of pre-eclampsia and asked about it at my next 'parentcraft' class. The midwife told me that it was nothing to worry about as the danger was to the baby and not to myself (this was apparently supposed to make me feel better). This was neither helpful nor true:

"Pre-eclampsia is the most dangerous of the common complications of pregnancy, a leading cause of maternal death and a major contributor to perinatal mortality." - 'Signs and Symptoms of pre-eclampsia', available from APEC.

At my first appointment with the consultant, I was told that I had mild gestational diabetes, my baby was about '38 weeks big' (I was only 33 weeks pregnant) and had moved into breech position, my oedema was getting worse and my blood pressure was still going up. He arranged for me to have home visits by the community midwives to keep an eye on my condition.

Two weeks later I had another appointment with my GP, who was concerned that my condition was deteriorating. I was admitted to hospital, and was told by my GP that I would probably be there for the duration of pregnancy.

(once it starts, pre-eclampsia always gets progressively worse until the baby is born. On rare occasions, it can still cause problems even after the birth)

I was kept in and monitored for five days. My blood pressure never dropped and my oedema was so bad now, that I could hardly walk. I was also having blood taken before and after every meal. My baby's heart was also monitored regularly. I was told the baby seemed to be coping well and I was sent home, despite the symptoms, much to the amazement of my GP and midwife.

The midwife was still coming out to see me every day and three and a half weeks after leaving hospital I developed a horrendous headache and abdominal pains.

(severe headache together with epigastric pain is a grave and often misdiagnosed symptom of fulminating pre-eclampsia. This can lead to Eclampsia with convulsions, possible coma or worse)

I telephoned the midwife, who came out within minutes. She acted immediately and ordered an ambulance. My condition had become serious.

I was kept in hospital overnight and visited the next day by the consultant who said that the midwife had "over reacted" - this seems incredible to me now, unfortunately, I didn't know any better at the time. I was made to feel a nuisance and told there was nothing wrong with me. I was sent home again.

(another common symptom of pre-eclampsia is proteinuria. This is protein in the urine and is sometimes a sign of kidney failure)

One of the problems of uncontrolled diabetes is a raised thirst which can be difficult to satisfy. During this stage of my pregnancy, I was drinking a great deal. It is believed that this was diluting the protein in my urine, therefore disguising the problem. As far as the consultant was concerned, no protein, no problem.

By this point, I was testing my urine for protein and sugar daily. About a week later, I measured two 'plusses' of protein. The following day, it was three. I told the midwife who immediately called an ambulance again. I was told that she would make sure something was done this time.

I was induced later that day. (and again in the night and once more the following morning!) My blood pressure had now raised to potentially dangerous levels and I was given anti-hypertensives in an effort to control it and anti-convulsants to prevent seizures. I finally went into labour the next morning.

Having pre-eclampsia, my condition continued to worsen during the labour. I was still having the anti-hypertensives and anti-convulsants by way of a drip. I was also being given an anti-sickness drip to combat the nausea created by the anti-convulsants and another drip to make my contractions stronger. And, of course, a saline drip. My blood pressure kept setting off the alarm on the automatic blood-pressure monitor, though this scared my husband more than me as I kept nodding off due to tiredness and all the drugs.

William was eventually born at six o'clock that evening. Not surprisingly he was suffering from the effects of all the drugs administered during my labour and he looked distinctly blue and lifeless, though we were not overly concerned as the staff seemed fairly at ease. He only scored 2 out of 10 on his APGAR test (they are taken to the Special Care Baby Unit if it is below 7) but he picked up very quickly. He spent the night in the SCBU. I spent the night waiting for my blood pressure to drop and my swelling to go down.

The midwife responsible for my care the next morning told me that I was very, very close to being moved to intensive care.

It was several weeks (and many more drugs) before my blood-pressure and swelling returned to normal. William 'recovered' in a matter of hours and soon had more energy than me.

I had trouble getting my head around all of this in the following weeks, and found all the information and support I needed from APEC. I also saw a specialist in pre-eclampsia, who was recommended by APEC. He believed that I suffered early onset pre-eclampsia at around the 30 week stage (where this story starts). This went against the notes made by my hospital, which said that pre-eclampsia didn't start until the day before the birth. The specialist wrote to my GP and the hospital consultant to get my notes changed accordingly. He also said that myself and the baby were lucky to come through it all in one piece.

By the time I fell pregnant again, I knew far more about pre-eclampsia and felt much better prepared. This was entirely thanks to APEC and their literature. On recommendation from the pre-eclampsia specialist, I started taking low-dose aspirin from week 12. I developed insulin dependant diabetes early in the pregnancy and lost one of the twins that I was carrying. But there was no sign of pre-eclampsia (apart from severe swelling) until the day before my planned caesarean (at 37 weeks), when my blood pressure shot up.

At the beginning of my second pregnancy, I requested that I see a different consultant. My new consultant knew much more about pre-eclampsia (almost as much as me!) and my pregnancy was very well managed.

In my third pregnancy, everything progressed well. Although I started to swell quite badly early on in the pregnancy. By the time I was 36 weeks, my swelling had become very severe, and my feet had started to go red, and then purple. I was swollen all over. I went to the hospital, because I felt things were not right, and my blood pressure had gone up. I had been having a 'trace' of protien for some weeks. My doctor decided to give me a c-section before things got any worse.

I will not have any more babies now. I have three healthy children and my health. I consider myself very fortunate. Many are not so lucky. Please support APEC in any way you can.

Helen