Many words come to mind when describing a volunteer: devoted, inspiring, passionate. But those words feel pale and generic when faced with the deep motivation and strength that makes up the members of the Preeclampsia Foundation's volunteer core.

Volunteers come to our foundation for many different reasons: mourning the loss of a loved one. Mourning the loss of that "perfect" pregnancy experience. Celebrating their gratitude in having a new life. Honoring a loved one's experience which they can only hope to never personally understand. But they stay for one overwhelming reason. It is their desire that no woman and no family should feel as alone, insecure and frightened as one does when faced with an overwhelming health crisis like preeclampsia, ...

BY REBEKA WHITMAN

It wasn't until my sister Rikki became pregnant with her first child that I understood the full meaning of pregnancy problems. She was 35, had Ulcerative Colitis, an autoimmune disease, and had difficulty becoming pregnant. She and her husband were looking forward to the birth of their son. On November 8, at 22 weeks, she developed HELLP Syndrome and the only option was to deliver the baby. Rikki's liver, heart and lung functions were deteriorating significantly. As I waited at the hospital with other family members, I asked the doctor, "Can't you wait until he is a few weeks older so that he has some sort of chance?" The doctor told me if they ...

Terrell and Kimberly Smith began 2012 with joy and anticipation as they planned for the arrival of their baby girl. But on March 12, they received the worst news of their lives: Kimberly's blood pressure hit 200/100 and her vitals were rapidly deteriorating. Their baby girl, Lauren Kelly, was gone at just 22 weeks due to severe preeclampsia. 

The Smiths refused to let their tragedy go unheard: Kimberly reached out to the Preeclampsia Foundation and asked what she could do.

"South Carolina has never held a Promise Walk before, and even in conversations with various public health professionals, pregnant women, and women impacted by preeclampsia, many had not heard of the Preeclampsia Foundation," explained Smith. So she decided her goal was to bring awareness and support to the "wonderful work the Foundation is doing throughout our nation" by bringing the Promise Walk to her home state. 

She has since partnered with local health care providers throughout the ...

It is the time of year where I spend quite a bit of time reflecting.  Since our son's angelversary was December 28th, it's natural to think not only of the past year, but also of the time our lives changed forever. It has been 7 years now since that day and I can honestly say that I would have never believed I would be where I am today. A few weeks after the loss of our son, I was researching on the internet to figure out what happened to me when I found the Preeclampsia Foundation. It was perfect timing to bond with other bereaved parents on the forums. I found healing through the community of sharing our losses and our grief. It was easier to bare knowing there were others I could turn to that had experienced the same devastation. I spent alot of time on the forums and through my time there was where I felt the need to give back. I made it through the blackest of days thanks to those ladies. I knew if I could do it, so could others. I not only wanted to help families avoid my ...

What was your experience with preeclampsia?

On February 17th, 2005 I was so blessed to become a mom to a beautiful, blue-eyed, baby boy. Roddick was born 2 weeks early, by emergency c-section, due to my blood pressure staying elevated, even with bed rest. My husband was out of town for work, so he missed the birth of his 1st child. It was crazy, nurses and doctors running around trying to get me into surgery and deliver my son. Much of the delivery was a blur. They had me on and off mag sulfate to control my bp. I felt so awful, I kept thinking that this surely couldn't be what it felt like to be a new mom. I felt so bad that I didn't even have the warmth and compassion I ...

1. What was your experience with preeclampsia?

I developed HELLP Syndrome in 2009. Not knowing the symptoms of HELLP delayed my response to getting help faster. I went to the ER after three days of right upper quadrant pain (which I was told by the doctor on call that it was probably my gall bladder even though I was on bed rest for high blood pressure), difficulty breathing, and a sense of just not feeling well. I was told by the Labor and Delivery nurse I had made it just in time. When I arrived my platelets were dangerously low, my liver was enlarged and my blood pressure was high. They feared I was going to bleed out during delivery and prepped me for a transfusion. There is no scarier feeling than feeling like you might die during what is supposed to be the happiest time in your life. I delivered my son, Cooper, at 36 weeks. He was only 4lbs 13 oz. Although he was tiny and his platelets were low, he miraculously did not have to go into the NICU. We ...

What was your experience with preeclampsia?

I had severe preeclampsia (PE) and borderline HELLP syndrome with my first pregnancy at 35 weeks. I had warning signs as early as 30 weeks that I reported to my doctor, but he blew me off as a first time mom who didn't know what pregnancy was like. By the time I was diagnosed, I was in heart failure, cerebral edema, and had platelets low enough to qualify for class II HELLP.  I was in really bad shape. I was transferred to another hospital, and the doctor there said we should pray the induction worked because a c-section would kill me. My first daughter was born mildly IUGR. She's almost 9 and doing well today.

I found a new doctor who monitored me closely for my second birth. I started showing the same early warning signs at 32 weeks, and was induced at 37 weeks with mild PE. My second daughter was also mildly IUGR and ...

What was your experience with preeclampsia?

I had preeclampsia with both of my pregnancies. With my first child, I was not made aware of the symptoms of this condition, so when I started having side pains, I just thought I had a cramp, nothing serious. I had gained a significant amount of weight, but had no basis of comparison, so I believed it to be just the nature of being pregnant. I went from 115 lbs to 180 lbs and assumed that was normal. I was swollen, short of breath, and generally unhappy. By the time the high blood pressure became a threat, it became significantly high. Because my proteins showed up during a routine visit and at about 28 weeks, I was put on bed rest, and was administered Labetalol to manage my blood pressure. After I gave birth at 35 weeks with my eldest daughter, I was told I had been preeclamptic but that it was "not a big deal." I was reassured it does not necessarily happen with every pregnancy, so I was told, for my next ...

This month, we highlight the volunteer efforts of Stacy Vallely, whose fundraising team "Ty's Team" raised an astonishing $10,300 for the Boston Promise Walk! Stacy raised $5850 herself, making her the highest individual fundraiser of all the Promise Walk participants. We asked Stacy a couple questions about her involvement with the foundation.

1. What was your experience with preeclampsia?

I started to swell pretty early on. I remember thinking that I couldn't believe that I had to take my rings off before the 3rd trimester. Then when I started to feel funny. I called my midwife and expressed concerns about preeclampsia because of the swelling. She asked if I had any headaches? No. Any vision changes? No. She told me that they don't usually worry about preeclampsia until 36 weeks and I was just 26 weeks. My blood pressure at our last appointment was fine, so I should "put my feet up and I will see her in a little ...

By Jill Siegel ~ As Father's Day approaches, I feel honored to be able to give a very personal shout-out in this newsletter to my husband and our daughter's father, Jeff Siegel.  There are so many Preeclampsia Foundation fathers, husbands, and partners who are often 'silent partners' in our volunteer efforts. Any one of them - pick a name: Dan Sloan, Tim Purnell, Todd Beadle, Demetri Tsigas, Jason Drews, Kurt Detweiler, Jay Weeks, Tim Aiken... and the list could go on and on - could be profiled here. For one, I have to laugh when I recall Tim Aiken's help at the 2011 Chicago Promise Walk and 5K Run. Due to a misunderstanding with one of our vendors, he and I found ourselves driving in a car along a bike- and pedestrian-only path in order to mark our course! 

I am sure all the many 'silent partners,' like Jeff, have schlepped more than a few tables to a Walk, occupied a child or overlooked household chores so their partner could take another volunteer ...

What was your experience with preeclampsia? I developed a life-threatening case of severe preeclampsia in 2002. My daughter was delivered by emergency C-section 2 ½ months early weighing 3 pounds and measuring 14 inches long. In my case, delivery did not relieve my symptoms and I spent time in the ICU with a pulmonary artery catheter in my neck, unable to see or hold my daughter for her first days of life. Even with extremely high blood pressure, incredible headaches and pulmonary edema, my doctors released me on two separate occasions. Each time I had to be re-admitted within hours, with slurred speech, vision problems, and tingling in limbs. In total, I remained in the hospital on magnesium sulfate for about three weeks as the preeclampsia continued postpartum. My daughter came home after 30 days in the NICU.

How aware were you about pre-e before/during your pregnancy? I was not familiar with preeclampsia other than maybe a brief ...

What was your experience with preeclampsia?

In my first pregnancy I wasn't worried about PE at all; everything was going smoothly until 31 weeks when, at our last childbirth class on a tour of the hospital's Labor & Delivery (L&D) ward, I started having painful contractions. We ended up calling my OB from the hospital parking lot and she told us to go back up to L&D where they hooked me up and determined - yes - these were real contractions & I was starting to dilate. Many hours of monitoring and couple shots of terbulaline later they sent me home. I ended up at my 37 week appointment, being sent over to L&D for an induction because of preeclampsia.

How aware were you about preeclampsia before/during your pregnancy?

I'd never really heard of preeclampsia before my first pregnancy. During my pregnancy as I started having high BP sometime around 34 weeks it got mentioned and I knew there were some ...

For Dallas-area volunteer Nicole Purnell, fundraising for the Preeclampsia Foundation is nothing new: she is currently in her fourth year as the Dallas-Ft. Worth Promise Walk Coordinator. So when she and her family decided to do another fundraiser for the Foundation, they decided to try something entirely different, and catered to their home state of Texas: a clay-shooting tournament to be held March 10.  

"Of course, I realize that shooting clays is not an activity for everyone's taste, but this IS Texas after all!" explained Purnell. In organizing the event, she and her stepfather, who is co-hosting the tournament, realized that this would be a unique opportunity to pull in a different crowd than that of the Promise Walks for fundraising and awareness. 

"My stepdad is a retired Navy SEAL and has many friends who enjoy clay shooting," Purnell said. "I had been wanting to do a clay shoot event for some time, and then, one day I got my daily Groupon ...

Perinatal Outreach Educator Networks (POENs) are generally funded by individual states to provide perinatal (the care offered to a mother and child just before and just after birth) medical education to health care providers in the region, enhancing the quality of care for mothers and infants and reducing morbidity and mortality. Specialists share their experience and knowledge with other physicians and community hospitals across regions by offering or facilitating programs such as physician and nurse consultation services, continuing education for health care professionals, emergency medical transport for referring hospitals within the region, consultation and technical assistance on emerging perinatal issues, and sometimes even lending libraries.

For example, in Illinois, there are 10 perinatal centers designated by the state. Rush Hospital in Chicago is home to the the largest network, involving 18 hospitals delivering more than 30,000 infants. The Rush Perinatal ...

1. What was your experience with preeclampsia?
My partner and I had tried for a couple of years to conceive our first child, and finally succeeded in 2009. I felt fabulous during the pregnancy, except that I developed an annoying cough that got more frequent and more productive as the months went on. I mentioned it a hundred times to my doctor, but he always shrugged it off, saying pregnant women often have excess mucus. At 7 months along, I expressed concern to my doctor that I had only gained 12 pounds, but again, he said it was not a problem. Based on my gut instinct that something wasn't right, I insisted on an ultrasound that day, which showed my son was severely growth restricted. He was delivered that night (at 31 weeks) via c-section. He weighed 1 lb 15 oz. We named him Mack. Despite showing all signs of doing great for over a week, Mack developed an infection in the hospital and died when he was 10 days old. I was later diagnosed with postpartum preeclampsia (high ...

Planning and organizing a Promise Walk and 5K Run are no easy task, but the contributions of critical sponsors and donors makes it all worthwhile. For the Chicago event, local sponsors do more than contribute financially, as is evident by these diverse conributions:

One of the local Chicago suburban hospitals, Northwest Community Hospital and a stationery company sales associate, Dee Dee McCoy, contributed financially as Gold Sponsors. Runners High 'n Tri, a popular local running store, provided bibs for Walk and race participants and two days of packet pick-up; DJ Eric Rain of Hanover Park and AMP Entertainment kept the crowd upbeat by spinning tunes and entertaining our many families and kids; CTI Industries of Lake Barrington donated more than 100 colorful, helium balloons; WomanCare OBGYN offices of Palatine, donated giveaways for goodie bags and high-dollar raffle prizes, and the local T-Mobile helped staff the day-of registration booth with a hotspot that enabled ...

Tiffany Trevers, San Jose Promise Walk Coordinator

What was your experience with preeclampsia?

I became pregnant with our first child at age 32 as a healthy person with no chronic conditions, I was considered low-risk. My pregnancy progressed normally through the first trimester. I began to swell around 22 weeks but thought little of it, that it was part of normal weight gain. As each week passed the swelling increased and my blood pressure, which has run low to normal all my life, began to creep up. At 27 weeks I was formally diagnosed with preeclampsia, and I delivered my son weighing just two pounds at 28 weeks gestation. Rather than improving after delivery, my condition worsened post-partum, as I developed Class I HELLP Syndrome and spent several days in ICU with severe liver issues before stabilizing.

My son spent 76 days in the NICU, and as is common with preemies born that early, spent time on the ventilator, had numerous blood transfusions, had ...

On April 14, West Suburban Medical Center (WSMC) in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Ill., hosted a unique seminar for nurses eager to learn more about HELLP syndrome. The program's format combined two different patient perspectives with that of Maternal Fetal Medicine expert Dr. Judith Hibbard, a nationally recognized board certified clinician and researcher with expertise in high quality, cutting edge perinatal care. She is a Professor and Director of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Illinois-Chicago where she is also Co-Director of the University's Perinatal Center. 

Accompanying Hibbard were HELLP survivors Johanna Aiken and Jill Siegel. The personal accounts of the births of their daughters were interspersed with medical information from Dr. Hibbard about what was happening to them at the time.

Aiken gave birth to her daughter Macy in 2003 near term but was diagnosed with HELLP syndrome thanks to the diligence of her admitting nurse ...

We often forget that the faces behind preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome are not just feminine; they are also the faces of fathers and fathers-to-be who are coping with their wife's complicated pregnancy, the loss of a baby, or the loss of their beloved wife.

Fathers come to the Foundation's Community Forum looking for answers to their unique questions: how to deal with post-pregnancy health care, how to be a champion for their wife's best care, or whether they are "overreacting" to their perceptions of inadequate health care. Some of these questions mirror ones that women ask, but for men who are accustomed to being the "problem solvers", it can be even scarier to feel that they have very little to no control over the pregnancy's outcome. This perspective is also shared by several families in If Only We ...

The Volunteer Profile column often spotlights our women volunteers, but during the month of June, we are shifting the focus to an amazing group of men.  These fathers and husbands have seen first-hand the effects of preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome, but instead of becoming passive observers, they have come to the forefront, volunteering their time, energy and skills.

 Board of Directors Chairman Pat Dignan has been a huge supporter of the Preeclampsia Foundation throughout the years, including participating in the 2011 New Jersey Promise Walk and serving as co-chair of this year's Saving Grace gala in New York City.

"I was drawn to the Preeclampsia Foundation back in 2004 for information and understanding, several years after my first wife Donna died from the effects of severe preeclampsia complicated by HELLP Syndrome," Dignan explained. "The need for information, awareness and research about preeclampsia still remains. The Preeclampsia Foundation tries very hard ...