Eclampsia after delivery

[smokensdevil]

Is there any one out there that has had Eclampsia after delivery and had a successful pregnancy after it? Did your next pregnancy present PE or E? I had Eclampsia 4 days after delivering with 3 grandmal seizures and blood clots as well. My husband wants me to have another child but I am scared out of my mind!! Any advice? :) Dee Dee

ps... I hear you talking about a dr named a Perin something.... is that a "high risk pregnancy dr"?

[sonja]

I did not have eclampsia post partum, but you will find women here that did and that went on to have successful pregnancies. The doctor that we are talking about is a Peri - which is a high risk OB, someone that you should be consulting. You will want to be tested for all sorts of underlying disorders that can contribute to pre-e (this will involve lots of blood taken to test for things like lupus, blood clotting disorders and autoimmune disease.) Sometimes one of these things will come up and you will know better how to manage your pregnancy because of it (or in some case to decide not to proceed because of the risk - it is a very personal decision). Other times no cause can be found, which can be very frusterating. My biggest piece of advice would be to find a Peri that you trust and on that can give you some answers and have a plan in place for a pregnancy that you can be comfortable with. Good luck to you.

Joy

[smokensdevil]

Thanks Joy... Ok I am on the right track. I went to a high risk ob the other day so I just wanted to make sure he was a "peri". Supposely this DR office I am going to is one of the top notch high risks in my area so... I do feel pretty comfortable going there. Thanks for your advice... it definitely is a hard decision. :) Dee Dee

[lizzybeth]

Hi Dee Dee,
Joy has you on the right track, I just wanted to pop by and welcome you aboard. Glad to hear that your OB has a great reputation, that helps in the decision process.

Wishing you all the best!
lizzybeth

[caryn]

Dee Dee, welcome to the forums -- I'm glad you've found us.

Our Experts say that postpartum symptoms are considered equivalent in risk to symptoms at term, which means about a 20% chance of recurrence. Here is a link to another recent query about postpartum eclampsia, which has links to those Expert responses:

http://www.preeclampsia.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18412

That said, it's perfectly reasonable to be scared out of your mind with your history, and you will find a *lot* of company here, both women who did and women who did not choose to attempt a subsequent pregnancy. Since it's your life and health at stake, it's got to be a decision you're *very* comfortable making.

The full word is "perinatologist", but we're all tired of typing the whole thing over and over. [:D]

Welcome again!

[caryn]

I have found another reply from our Experts on the topic of recurrent *eclampsia* -- in other words, of seizure in addition to pre-eclampsia:

http://www.preeclampsia.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=880

[tilleyjohnson]

I am brand new to the forum, just discovered it this morning. But had to reply. Its so refreshing to hear a story like mine. I had a perfectly normal and healthy pregnancy (at least that's what doctor thought). I had a c-section on December 20, 2006, 7 days before my due date, because the doctor thought the baby was getting too large. However, when the baby was delivered she was only 8 pounds 10 ounces, a normal size baby for my family history. I went home, again, perfectly normal, then on the day after Christmas I got a terrible headache. Nothing I did could stop it. I couldn't even sleep. I could feel the pounding at the same beat as my heart. Since this was my first birth, I thought maybe it was a normal result of hormones/delivery. But after the second day, we called the doctor. She called me in a migrane pill. After two, not one bit of relief. So my husband drove me the hour to the hospital. When I arrived they gave me a shot for the pain, and a few minutes later I seized. The next ten days are a blur to me. I was put on the mag (the nurses affectionately called me a "mag girl") and was in ICU for bit. Anytime they would bring me off the mag, and I felt as if I was going home anytime, then my BP would skyrocket and back on the mag I went. It happened several times over the ten days, until finally, they had me off the mag long enough without any bad results, to send me home. I was scared to death and didn't want to go home. But eventually I did, was on BP medicine for about a month. After a month I was back to completely normal.

I too am looking at that second pregnancy and that's why I'm on the internet looking for information. I was told there is a 15% chance it will happen again, but recently met a girl who had PRE E twice. She stopped after the second. I was lucky enough to go thru this experience after delivery (lucky for my baby girl I mean). I'm scared about going thru it before delivery.

Its frightening that there's not more info on this. But it does help to hear of others who have had the same experience. Sorry for the long post. Hope to hear some feedback from you all soon.