Dr Sherene Kalloo

Each May, health­care pro­fes­sion­als around the world ob­serve Preeclamp­sia Aware­ness Month, a cam­paign led by or­gan­i­sa­tions such as the Preeclamp­sia Foun­da­tion. Es­tab­lished in the ear­ly 2000s, this ini­tia­tive was cre­at­ed to im­prove aware­ness, pro­mote ear­ly de­tec­tion, and re­duce the se­ri­ous com­pli­ca­tions as­so­ci­at­ed with this con­di­tion. The cam­paign is of­ten rep­re­sent­ed by navy and hot pink colours and a pur­ple and blue rib­bon, sym­bol­is­ing strength, ur­gency, and ma­ter­nal health ad­vo­ca­cy.

De­spite these ef­forts, preeclamp­sia re­mains one of the lead­ing caus­es of com­pli­ca­tions dur­ing preg­nan­cy. Un­der­stand­ing what it is—and what it is not—is the first step to­ward pro­tect­ing both moth­er and ba­by.

What Is Preeclamp­sia

Preeclamp­sia is a con­di­tion that typ­i­cal­ly de­vel­ops af­ter 20 weeks of preg­nan­cy and is char­ac­terised by high blood pres­sure along with signs that oth­er or­gans may be af­fect­ed, com­mon­ly pro­tein in the urine, in­di­cat­ing kid­ney dam­age and oth­er signs of or­gan dam­age. It can al­so im­pact the pla­cen­ta, which is es­sen­tial for the ba­by’s growth and oxy­gen sup­ply.

While some women may ex­pe­ri­ence mild forms, preeclamp­sia can progress rapid­ly and be­come life-threat­en­ing if not prop­er­ly man­aged or if left un­treat­ed. In se­vere cas­es, it may lead to com­pli­ca­tions such as stroke, or­gan fail­ure, or a con­di­tion known as eclamp­sia, which in­volves seizures.

Why Is It Im­por­tant?

Preeclamp­sia is not just “high blood pres­sure in preg­nan­cy.” It is a mul­ti-sys­tem dis­or­der that can af­fect near­ly every or­gan in the body. For the ba­by, it may re­duce blood flow through the pla­cen­ta, lead­ing to:

Poor growth/growth re­stric­tion

Low birth weight

Pre­ma­ture birth

Pla­cen­tal abrup­tion

For the moth­er, risks in­clude:

Se­vere hy­per­ten­sion

Liv­er or kid­ney dys­func­tion

Blood clot­ting prob­lems (HELLP syn­drome)

In­creased risk of fu­ture car­dio­vas­cu­lar dis­ease

Glob­al­ly, preeclamp­sia af­fects ap­prox­i­mate­ly 5–8% of preg­nan­cies, and its im­pact can be even more sig­nif­i­cant in re­gions with lim­it­ed ac­cess to pre­na­tal care.

Who Is at Risk?

Preeclamp­sia can de­vel­op in any preg­nan­cy—even in women who ap­pear com­plete­ly healthy. How­ev­er, cer­tain fac­tors in­crease the like­li­hood:

First preg­nan­cy

Mul­ti­ple preg­nan­cy (twins or more)

His­to­ry of preeclamp­sia in a pre­vi­ous preg­nan­cy

Chron­ic con­di­tions such as:

Hy­per­ten­sion

Di­a­betes

Kid­ney dis­ease

Obe­si­ty

Au­toim­mune Dis­or­ders

Use of IVF

Ma­ter­nal age un­der 18 or over 35

Fam­i­ly his­to­ry of preeclamp­sia

It’s im­por­tant to em­pha­sise that hav­ing one or more of these risk fac­tors does not mean a woman will de­vel­op preeclamp­sia—but it does mean clos­er mon­i­tor­ing is es­sen­tial.

Can It Hap­pen With­out Warn­ing?

Yes. One of the chal­lenges with preeclamp­sia is that it can some­times de­vel­op silent­ly, with­out ob­vi­ous symp­toms in the ear­ly stages. This is why rou­tine pre­na­tal vis­its are so im­por­tant. Sim­ple checks like blood pres­sure mea­sure­ment and urine test­ing can de­tect ear­ly signs be­fore com­pli­ca­tions arise.

The Role of Pre­na­tal Care

Reg­u­lar an­te­na­tal care is the most ef­fec­tive way to de­tect preeclamp­sia ear­ly and to iden­ti­fy pa­tients at high­er risk. At each vis­it, your health­care provider will:

Mon­i­tor your blood pres­sure

Check for pro­tein in your urine

As­sess your over­all health and your ba­by’s growth

Ear­ly de­tec­tion al­lows for clos­er mon­i­tor­ing, time­ly treat­ment, and de­ci­sions about the safest time for de­liv­ery if need­ed.

A Fi­nal Word

Preeclamp­sia can be se­ri­ous, but with aware­ness, ear­ly de­tec­tion, and prop­er care, out­comes can be great­ly im­proved. Preeclamp­sia Aware­ness Month serves as a re­minder that ed­u­ca­tion is a pow­er­ful tool—one that helps women recog­nise risks, at­tend reg­u­lar check-ups, and seek care when it mat­ters most.

If you are preg­nant or plan­ning a preg­nan­cy, stay­ing in­formed and main­tain­ing con­sis­tent pre­na­tal care are among the most im­por­tant steps you can take to pro­tect your health and your ba­by’s fu­ture.

In our next ar­ti­cle, we will dis­cuss warn­ing signs of preeclamp­sia you should nev­er ig­nore.

Dr Sherene Kalloo

MDW, MBBS, DGO, DM, FACOG

Spe­cial­ist Ob­ste­tri­cian & Gy­nae­col­o­gist