With future pregnancies ...

[preemomof2]

With my first I delivered the day i turned 36w. MY bp 2 weeks before that was 138/88(at dr. office). With 1+ protein. Actually from my first visit my BP was already raised. I'm usually perfect BP person..so from that first visit they thought that 139/81 was my base line...when in reality im 117/75 kinda girl.

7w4d: 139/81 106.5lbs
11w6d: 131/76 Gain 5lbs
16w4d: 129/83 Gain 1/2 lb
20w4d: 126/77 Gain 9lbs
23w0d: 119/71 Gain 3.5lbs
24w4d: 122/78 Gain 3lbs
30w0d: 131/77 Gain 11.5lbs
31w3d: 126/81 Gain 3lbs
34w0d: 136/88 Gain 7.5lbs
36w0d: 152/103 <- In office...was 160/110 30 minutes later in hospital and continued higher through the night. *Gain 8lbs from 34-36w...then Gain about 10-15lbs that night in hospital

Second my bp went high As soon as I stoped taking procardia. Had 322 on my 24 hour urine. And was induced 2 weeks later.

[cheer34]

I am one of those "hit later in pregnancy, but hit harder and faster". I was diagnosed with mild PE at 29 weeks with my first pregnancy and made it to 33 weeks on bedrest.

With this pregnancy, everything was fine until 34 weeks, when blood pressure shot up into the severe range and was spilling 2+ protein. Induced 2 days later.

I have a beautiful daughter who only spent 1 week in NICU....

[caryn]

There is no such thing as a stupid question. But here's a stupid answer: they don't know, yet.

Intuitively, if your PE is being triggered by an underlying disorder, you'll still have it in a subsequent pregnancy and so that subsequent pregnancy will still be at higher risk. *But*, the population rates we do have (and they are pretty limited still, and don't break apart populations like chronic hypertensives or thrombophiliacs) show a drop in your odds of getting preeclampsia in a subsequent pregnancy regardless, probably because it's easier for your body to accept a second or third placenta than it was to accept the first one.

So, the real answer is that you've just gotta get knocked up and see what happens. :-)

[rachaelann]

this may be a stupid question, but do the recurrence rates change if you do/dont have any of the underlying problems? you know the ones the test for after delivery.

[kelly w]

The other factor is age - with my first 3 I had "only" PIH and not as severe. But with my last 2 [and now it looks like 3] I've had an earlier onset and it has been much more severe - which could be age related too. As you get older, you are more likely to have complications like PE in general....

Kelly

[blythe]

I've had doctors tell me that if you have late-onset (after 36 weeks), and still get it in subsequent pregnancies, it tends to be less severe. I've also heard more than one person here report their doctor told them a repeat performance might be later in gestation but hit harder and faster. I haven't had *any* luck finding studies to back up those anecdotal reports. As always, I might be putting in the wrong search terms - anyone feel free to find something I've missed!

Fancy19, HELLP recurrence stats in the Expert Reponse
http://www.preeclampsia.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=331
the recurrence rate for HELLP syndrome is approximately one in four to one in five

and the study the Expert referenced that obtained a lower recurrence rate
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12824985
CONCLUSION: Patients with a history of hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count syndrome at < or = 28 weeks of gestation during the index pregnancy are at increased risk for obstetric complications in subsequent pregnancies. Overall, however, the rate of recurrent hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count syndrome is only 6%.

[trish5]

I have had 5 pregnancies with pre -e for 1,2,4,5 my third pregnancy had no problems at all! So you never know. Each of the other 4 hit at different times from 28 - 36 weeks. Yes, I know, crazy for going through this 4 times..but I have 5 beautiful daughters, worth it all!

[fancy19]

I would assume the same stats go for HELLP?

[preemomof2]

Thanks for that Link.

MY other question is...Each time you get pre-e...does it get better? As in not progressing rapidly to severe pree?

[caryn]

If you've had it twice, the odds of developing it again are quite good. The hard part about predicting these things is that every pregnancy is a genetically new placenta, and in a different environment (in your case, in a woman who's had two previous essentially term pregnancies.)

Here's a link to what our Experts (top clinicians and researchers into hypertensive pregnancy) have said about recurrence rates:

http://www.preeclampsia.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=331