Preeclampsia is a pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure and signs of damage to another organ system, most often the liver and kidneys. Preeclampsia usually begins after 20 weeks of pregnancy in women whose blood pressure had been normal.
Left untreated, preeclampsia can lead to serious ? even fatal ? complications for both you and your baby. If you have preeclampsia, the most effective treatment is delivery of your baby. Even after delivering the baby, it can still take a while for you to get better.
If you're diagnosed with preeclampsia too early in your pregnancy to deliver your baby, you and your doctor face a challenging task. Your baby needs more time to mature, but you need to avoid putting yourself or your baby at risk of serious complications.
Rarely, preeclampsia develops after delivery of a baby, a condition known as postpartum preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is when you have high blood pressure and possibly protein in your urine during pregnancy or after delivery. You may also have low clotting factors (platelets) in your blood or indicators of kidney or liver trouble.
Preeclampsia generally happens after the 20th week of pregnancy. However, in some cases it occurs earlier, or after delivery.
