Pre-Eclampsia - it's not your fault... - Mumof2.com

Pre-Eclampsia – it’s not your fault…

I can say that Pre-Eclampsia is a subject I have lived.  In fact I know a few members of my family suffered from it during their pregnancies too, although back in the day it was known as Toxemia. It would be great if the names of various ailments didn’t stop changing so as to help figure out long term effects or just not confuse the situation.

So, the reason I thought about writing a note on it, is that I stumbled upon a page for Pre-eclampsia survivors whilst I was doing some research on the internet and had never thought about ‘surviving’ the condition. Yes, I had an eclamptic fit during labour and yes, our son was in NICU (NeoNatal Intensive Care Unit). However, I didn’t realise how traumatic the whole experience was until we were pregnant with number 2 and under close monitoring by the consultant.  My husband was answering various questions that I clearly couldn’t answer and it was during this conversation that it really hit home how serious things were.

I guess the part that I learnt the most out of it all, was that there really wasn’t anything I could do that was going to make it go away. I hadn’t done anything wrong during the early stages of pregnancy to cause the condition to appear and affect our baby’s growth. I also suppose I didn’t understand exactly what was happening and how critical things were as it was our first child. You don’t know what you don’t know…right?

So, stumbling across the surviving pre-eclampsia page and reading various stories and comments, it brings it all back (yes 6 years on!). Do I feel different about it now? I certainly do! Do I still feel guilty that I could have done more to not get it? No. I can say that I am still trying to find the answers to the long term health affects it will have on our son and I, but sadly there isn’t that kind of information available….yet.

2 thoughts on “Pre-Eclampsia – it’s not your fault…”

  1. Kel, there is no blame. As you know I had it with Natasha and was in the lady Chancellor for six weeks before she was induced. I hated the food and my mom brought supper up every day. It did affect me but no one pick up that it had for 20 years. My thyroid stopped working. Natasha as far as we know has had no side effects from it. Do I feel any guilt, no none. I am glad I was the one with the side effects and not Tash a bit of extra fat is not a great price to pay for a healthy child. I did not have it the second time around. God bless Kel

    1. Thanks for your comments Liz. I am glad there have been no side effects for Tash. I know there are some issues with small intra-uterine growth in the long run affecting a variety of things and of course heart disease for the mums. My consultant was running a long term study but only started this after I had had our 2 monkeys. It’s strange though that a disease that has been known for a very many years is no further along in medical advancements. Take care, Kel

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