Dr Sherene Kalloo

Preeclamp­sia is a con­di­tion that can de­vel­op qui­et­ly dur­ing preg­nan­cy—but when symp­toms do ap­pear, they should nev­er be ig­nored. As part of Preeclamp­sia Aware­ness Month, led by or­gan­i­sa­tions such as the Preeclamp­sia Foun­da­tion, the goal is to help women recog­nise ear­ly warn­ing signs and seek care be­fore com­pli­ca­tions be­come se­vere … Im­pend­ing Eclamp­sia and Eclamp­sia.

One of the most im­por­tant things to un­der­stand is this: preeclamp­sia does not al­ways “feel” like some­thing is wrong at first. Some women have no symp­toms at all, which is why reg­u­lar an­te­na­tal vis­its are crit­i­cal. How­ev­er, when symp­toms do de­vel­op, they can es­ca­late quick­ly.

Com­mon warn­ing signs of im­pend­ing Eclamp­sia, se­vere symp­toms

Know­ing what to look for can make a life-sav­ing dif­fer­ence.

1. Per­sis­tent Headache

A mild headache is com­mon in preg­nan­cy, but a se­vere or per­sis­tent headache that does not im­prove with rest or sim­ple med­ica­tion may be a warn­ing sign. This type of headache is of­ten de­scribed as con­stant and throb­bing.

2. Changes in Vi­sion

Vi­su­al dis­tur­bances are a key red flag. These may in­clude:

• Blurred vi­sion

• See­ing spots or flash­ing lights

• Sen­si­tiv­i­ty to light

• Tem­po­rary loss of vi­sion

These symp­toms sug­gest that preeclamp­sia may be af­fect­ing the brain or eyes and re­quire ur­gent eval­u­a­tion.

3. ↓Swelling of the Face and Hands

Swelling (ede­ma) is com­mon in preg­nan­cy, es­pe­cial­ly in the feet and an­kles. How­ev­er, sud­den swelling of the face, hands, or around the eyes is more con­cern­ing and should not be dis­missed as “nor­mal.”

4. Sud­den Weight Gain

A rapid in­crease in weight over a short pe­ri­od—of­ten due to flu­id re­ten­tion—can be an­oth­er warn­ing sign. This may oc­cur along­side no­tice­able swelling.

5. Up­per Ab­dom­i­nal Pain

Pain un­der the ribs, par­tic­u­lar­ly on the right side, may in­di­cate liv­er in­volve­ment. This symp­tom is of­ten over­looked or mis­tak­en for in­di­ges­tion, but in preeclamp­sia, it can sig­nal se­vere dis­ease and im­pend­ing eclamp­sia.

6. ↓Nau­sea or Vom­it­ing Af­ter Mid-Preg­nan­cy

While nau­sea is com­mon in ear­ly preg­nan­cy, its ap­pear­ance lat­er in preg­nan­cy can be a warn­ing sign, es­pe­cial­ly when com­bined with oth­er symp­toms.

7. Short­ness of Breath

Dif­fi­cul­ty breath­ing or a feel­ing of tight­ness in the chest may oc­cur if flu­id builds up in the lungs. This is a se­ri­ous symp­tom that re­quires im­me­di­ate med­ical at­ten­tion.

What if you have no symp­toms?

It is im­por­tant to em­pha­sise that most women with preeclamp­sia feel com­plete­ly well. In these cas­es, the con­di­tion is on­ly de­tect­ed through:

• El­e­vat­ed blood pres­sure read­ings

• Pro­tein in the urine

• Blood tests show­ing or­gan in­volve­ment

This is why skip­ping an­te­na­tal vis­its can be dan­ger­ous, even if you feel fine.

When should

you seek help?

You should seek im­me­di­ate med­ical care if you ex­pe­ri­ence:

• Se­vere headaches that won’t go away

• Vi­su­al changes

• Se­vere swelling of the face or hands

• In­tense ab­dom­i­nal pain

• Dif­fi­cul­ty breath­ing

Do not wait for your next ap­point­ment. It is al­ways bet­ter to be checked and re­as­sured than to de­lay care. Or keep a blood pres­sure mon­i­tor at home and check it your­self and re­port to your doc­tor.

For milder symp­toms—such as grad­ual swelling or mild headaches—con­tact your health­care provider for ad­vice and pos­si­ble ear­li­er re­view.

Why ear­ly ac­tion mat­ters

Preeclamp­sia can progress rapid­ly. What starts as mild symp­toms can de­vel­op in­to se­vere com­pli­ca­tions of eclamp­sia, in­clud­ing:

• Seizures (eclamp­sia)

• Stroke

• Or­gan fail­ure

• Risks to the ba­by, in­clud­ing pre­ma­ture birth

Ear­ly de­tec­tion al­lows doc­tors to mon­i­tor close­ly, man­age blood pres­sure, pre­vent eclamp­sia and de­ter­mine the safest tim­ing for de­liv­ery if need­ed.

A mes­sage for women

and fam­i­lies

In Trinidad and To­ba­go and across the Caribbean, im­prov­ing aware­ness of warn­ing signs is es­sen­tial. Many women still present late with com­pli­ca­tions, of­ten be­cause ear­ly symp­toms were dis­missed or not recog­nised.

If you are preg­nant, lis­ten to your body. If some­thing feels “off,” trust that in­stinct and seek care.

If you are a part­ner or fam­i­ly mem­ber, take these symp­toms se­ri­ous­ly and sup­port women in get­ting med­ical at­ten­tion quick­ly.

Fi­nal thoughts

Preeclamp­sia can be un­pre­dictable—but recog­nis­ing the warn­ing signs can save lives.

This Preeclamp­sia Aware­ness Month, re­mem­ber: Not all symp­toms are ob­vi­ous, but none should be ig­nored. Ear­ly ac­tion pro­tects both moth­er and ba­by—and it starts with aware­ness.

Dr Sherene Kalloo

MDW, MBBS, DGO, DM, FACOG

Spe­cial­ist Ob­ste­tri­cian & Gy­nae­col­o­gist