- hypertensive disorders during pregnancy may also result in substantial maternal morbidity (1)
- a study from one region of the UK reported that 1 in 20 (5%) women with severe pre-eclampsia or eclampsia were admitted to intensive care
- hypertensive disorders also carry a risk for the baby (1)
- the most recent UK perinatal mortality report, 1 in 20 (5%) stillbirths in infants without congenital abnormality occurred in women with pre-eclampsia
- the contribution of pre-eclampsia to the overall preterm birth rate is substantial;
- 1 in 250 (0.4%) women in their first pregnancy will give birth before 34 weeks as a consequence of pre-eclampsia and 8-10% of all preterm births result from hypertensive disorders
- half of women with severe pre-eclampsia give birth preterm
- small-for-gestational-age babies (mainly because of fetal growth restriction arising from placental disease) are common, with 20-25% of preterm births and 14-19% of term births in women with pre-eclampsia being less than the tenth centile of birth weight for gestation
Several crises may occur in untreated pre-eclampsia such as:
- eclampsia
- cerebral haemorrhage
- cortical blindness
- HELLP
- liver failure - such as hepatic rupture
- renal failure - such as acute renal tubular and/or cortical rupture
- DIC
- pulmonary oedema
- laryngeal oedema
- abruptio placentae
- maternal death - this may be the result of any one or more of the above; but death may also be due to failure of coagulation
The risk of fetal death is proportional to the severity of the condition and rises to about 50% if the patient is eclamptic. Pre-eclampsia is a common cause of asymmetrical intra-uterine growth retardation.
Possible causes of fetal death include:
- hypoxia
- placental separation
- immaturity following premature delivery
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