Pre ecplampsia and HELLP syndrome
| Traumatic Birth experience |
| My first birth was quite traumatic - I was 52 hours in labour and dont really remember having much contact...Read more |
| Traumatic Birth experience |
| I had a really horrible labour with my first I went through 60 hours of labour and where they had...Read more |
Your StoriesHiya my name is Heidi and I live in Loughton Essex. I have a history of endometriosis & lots of gynee problems & was told I was unable to have children without IVF however 3 wks before starting the procedure I found out I was pregnant which according to doctors was a miracle. My pregnancy was very stressful and I had to have injections of progesterone every Monday throughout the whole pregnancy in order to keep my baby due to hormone levels being too low. I was in and out of hospital through the whole 9 months & managed to get through to the full 40 weeks. On arrival to the maternity ward I had pre eclampsia however this was never treated. This caused me to fit and shake continuously through the 36 hours of scary labour. All of a sudden the alarms on every machine in the room started bleeping & the room was full of doctors & nurses all leaning over me and prodding me. This was the time when HELLP was apparent and my body was on shut down. At this point my poor husband was told that he may lose us both unless we had a c section. Much to my disgust I was rushed through for an emergency c section which thankfully saved both of us and Harry Leonard was born on March 5th 2000. I was extremely ill & in a one to one observation room for 48 hrs after, while Harry was taken to SCBU for antibiotics due to Group B Strep (which was just another thing I had to deal with aswell). When questioning the Consultants and Midwives about the HELLP Syndrome it seemed that they didn’t really know much about HELLP at all & didn’t advise us or explain anything at all. I felt very lucky to be alive and of course overwhelmed with our little miracle baby. Even though after Harry I was told I would never have any more I found out I was pregnant in June this year however unfortunately lost my baby at 11wks. When I lost my baby I seemed to have all the same symptons as I did with Harry, my body bloated up all swollen I was having trouble breathing needing an ambulance with oxygen on board and was fitting and my teeth were chattering so much it was giving me a headache. I have mentioned this to the doctors and they have said I am being paranoid and that HELLP wouldn't appear until labour and delivery stage of pregnancy My argument was that even though I was only 11 weeks at the time my body thought it was in labour when I had the miscarriage unfortunately it wasn't the correct time but this is what my body thought was happening (I thought this made sense anyway and my own gp agrees with me thank god). Since then I have spoken with a midwife and she also has said that my miscarriage was almost likely to be caused by HELLP. I have just recently found out I am pregnant again (yes you did read right scary eh!) I am now on aspirin every day and take a progesterone pessarie daily too and am being treated as a high risk patient. I have just experienced some bleeding with extreme lower pain and they have informed me that I have the first sign of HELLP – low blood platelets and am going for another blood test next week to keep an eye on it all. I am extremely scared about the whole thing and have just had my dating scan I am 12wks and my baby is fine infact its amazing really I prodded my tummy and my baby kicked and punched fantastic. As you can imagine I am in need of a chat with a specialist and would therefore be grateful if there is any one out there that may know of one in my area or even online. Thanks for your time in reading this – sorry it’s a bit long winded. Heidi-Jane Oliver Well how do I start, I have a completely beautiful little boy called Charlie Fred who is now 2 and a half. My husband Simon and myself were in the lovely and very lucky position of having a perfect wedding and then to top it off we conceived Charlie on our fab honeymoon. Our lives were perfect and of course looking back something had to go wrong. My pregnancy was very good and I enjoyed everything about it, I didnt have any morning sickness, but did feel quite tired throughout, but apart from that everything was going very well. From around 30 weeks things started to change, on attending my weekly anti-natel appointments I started to make my mid-wife aware that I was feeling tired and also suffering from a quite painful rib cage. These pains gradually got worse and worse, I was still working full time at this stage and just kept thinking that it was me being paranoid being the first time mum that I was. I finished work when I was 38 weeks, on the day I finished I began to feel very sick and starting vomiting on a hourly basis, I attended my GP on several occasions but was told they thought it was food poisoning. When I was 38 weeks my husband couldnt stand the situation anymore and took me to our local hospital, at that point I had never felt so ill and hope I will never will feel that ill again in my entire life. Charlie was delivered by Caersaren section on March 1st 2004, (24 hours after being taken to hospital) He was a healthly 6lb 12oz. He was perfect but I was then transferred to ITU with complications, they told my family I had a blood clot on my lung and I was extremely poorly. I was in ITU for 6 days and my husband and mum took total care of my little boy. I dont remember more than 3 hours in total of the 6 days I spent in ITU. I feel very cheated of this, and have only just started to feel worthy to be Charlie's mum. I was in hospital in total for 4 weeks and had a further 2 operations for an internal bleed and my scar not mending. Typing this makes me very sad that this has all happened and I cant actually believe that only recently we have started to think in the future about having more children, I just thought if any one had a advice, thoughts about how they would try and ensure this tramatic situation wouldnt happen again. Thanks for reading this, it has taken me around 2 years to actually pluck up the courage to go on any website about HELLP !!! CAROLINE NICHOLAS I had a wonderful pregnancy - no morning sickness, etc. At 34 weeks I went for my usual checkup with the midwife. My blood pressure was high, but I rested and they rechecked it and it was fine. I had some strange pain right under my right shoulder, but having never had heartburn or a baby before I assumed it was alright since the pain came and went and wasn't too bad. 4 weeks later I went to be checked again. Again high blood pressure. Also swollen feet but hey I was working full time as a fifth grade teacher and was 38 weeks pregnant. They had me come back and have my pressure checked every 2 days and then a fetal stress test about 1 week later. Everything seemed OK, except for the pressure which wasn't all that high. Finally, I stopped working on Weds., Feb. 2. The midwife stripped my membranes on that Monday so I was already dilated to 3 on Weds. Sat., Feb. 5th at about 6:30 am my water broke. I was having the pain in my ribs constantly now for about a week. At 10:30 I checked into the hospital. It was very busy. I labored until 2:45 pm without drugs but finally asked for something due to an excruciating headache and nausea - not for the contractions. Last thing I remember I crawled into bed. According to my husband, at 3:15 or so the nurse told him I would be ready to push in 1/2 an hour, I was at 91/2. He went to the bathroom and came back to find me having a grand mal seizure. I was whisked into the surgery room with my daughter's heartrate dropping. My daughter was born by emergency C-section at 3:45 pm and I was on the table for the next three hours because they couldn't stop the bleeding and my liver had swollen to many times its normal size. They asked my husband's permission to do a hysterectomy, which he refused unless they absolutely had to, which luckily just in time, I stopped bleeding. I was in ICU and received 22 transfusions over 2 days some platelets, some whole blood. I woke up 4 days later knowing nothing of what had happened. Luckily, my daughter was fine and spent only a few hours at the NICU. I was transferred to a regular room on day 5 and went home with my daughter on the 7th day. I had a urinary tract infection and had to have my incision reopened to release excess blood my body couldn't reabsorb. I was covered in bruises from neck to knees due to broken capillaries, etc. but I suffer no long term effects today, nor does my daughter. I was told to not have more children and fortunately for me I didn't plan on having more. I worry for my daughter however and wonder if this will effect her. Thanks for your time. Kristina Huskins Like most, during my 1st pregnancy everything had been fine until one night when I was 30 weeks, when I was woken up by the most incredible pain I had ever felt, just under my rib cage. I was taken into hospital for observation to be told that we don't usually keep people in for heartburn. All symptoms subsided and I was allowed home 24 hours later, it was in the early hours of the next tuesday morning when I was woken up by the same pain again I was admitted to hospital for observation. This time things started to show up on blood tests and my blood pressure was up and down. After a few more attacks i was started on treatment to try to stabilise me but things just went from bad to worse, in the end my baby was born by emergency caesarean section at 33 weeks, with me under full GA accompanied by a night in itu. Luckily my baby was fine once she was rescussitated. She weighed 4lb 2oz. It was 3 days before I was wheeled in on my bed to see her. She was in hospital for just over 3 weeks and is now a very healthy and big 3 year old. My husband and I decided we would like another baby and made appointments with midwifes etc to find out the chances of it happening again and were told that it was approx a 40% chance of it happening again. We decided to take the chance. Unfortunatly at 28 weeks the symptoms came back. I was admitted to hospital again and this time transferred to a larger hospital with facilities for babies born that early as my local hospital only accepts babies after 32 weeks, luckily I remained stable enoungh until 32 weeks and my son was born at my local hospital by caesarian, this time I got away with a spinal anaesthetic. Again my son was fine and needed no help. He weighed 4lb. He was in hospital for 3 weeks. I am fine now but it took much longer for me to get over the whole thing the second time round. They say lightning never strikes twice and I'm certainly not giving it the chance to strike a third time, besides we were lucky and got one of each who are both healthy. I'm certainly greatful for I've got. Juliet I also had HELLP Syndrome with my son who was Born March 18/2003. We are thinking of trying for another but I am so scared I am going to end up with complications. When I was pregnant with my son it was a great prenancy, no morning sickness everything was great. Then one day, March 11/2003 I went to the Hospital because I had been having pains under my Rib Cage for 2 weeks. I just thought it was gas ot heartburn but my family insisted I go get it checked out. Of course once they ran blood tests on me and found out what it was I was transferred to another Hospital that has a great NICU. I was in this hospital for almost two weeks with them trying to stabilize everything and I just kept getting worse and they were taking blood up to five times a day from me. It was all just a terrible experience and I do not want to go through this again. Do you know what the chances are of me getting this again? My biggest worry is that I was so lucky with my Son and how healthy he was when he was born that I may not be as lucky with my Second child if this were to happen again. If you can give me any information to ease my mind I would apreciate it. Thank you for your time. - Catherine This is one mum's story of coping with Pre Eclampsia and HELLP Syndrome during her pregnancy. As first time parents my husband and I were really looking forward to meeting our new baby and were busy making plans for that special day. I gave up work when I was 30 weeks pregnant and was determined to relax and enjoy the weeks I had left until my due date. However, nature intervened. I was 32 weeks pregnant when I attended a routine antenatal appointment and was told by my doctor that I needed to go to hospital for a rest as my blood pressure was very high. After a series of tests I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia but also had the added complication of suffering from HELLP syndrome. Pre-eclampsia is caused by a defect in the placenta which typically occurs after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The condition is symptom-less in the early stages and signs of pre-eclampsia are usually high blood pressure combined with the presence of protein in the urine. It is potentially life-threatening to both mother and baby if allowed to develop and progress undetected. HELLP syndrome is the medical term given to one of the most serious complications of pre-eclampsia, in which there is a combined liver and blood clotting disorder. HELLP is as dangerous as eclampsia (convulsions) and probably more common, although it is less easy to detect. Although drugs can help to stabilise these life threatening conditions the only cure is delivery of the baby so later that afternoon I had to have an emergency caesarean and our beautiful son, Reuben, was born weighing 3lb 7oz. My husband and I were able to catch a brief glimpse of him before he was whisked away to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) within the hospital. Reuben was tiny but tough - although he was very small he was quite strong and healthy and only had to have oxygen for 12 hours. My husband was able to see him every few hours but I didn't get to see him again until he was two days old and I was only able to hold him for five minutes. For a while I felt numb - what should've been a happy event was replaced by a very sudden, traumatic and worrying experience not only for me but for my husband too. I found it hard to come to terms with the fact that I had had a baby without experiencing the feeling of giving birth but a few of my friends have since told me that I'm better off not knowing! I spent 11 days in hospital whilst the doctors tried to stabilise my condition and bring my blood pressure under control. I was eventually discharged but it felt strange and sad going home without our baby - the house just felt quiet and empty. My husband and I were able to see Reuben every day and help with his nappy changes and feeds. I had decided that I wanted to breast feed Reuben and started to express my milk, which was fed to him via a naso gastric tube - this made me feel as if I was doing something positive to help him. Reuben was in the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) for two weeks and afterwards we both went into a Transitional Care Unit (TCU) so that we could get to know one another and I would be shown how to care for my baby. It meant that I had to return to hospital but I didn't mind because it meant that I would be with my baby at last. My time in the unit was tough because I was separated from my husband and we didn't feel like a real family. After two weeks Reuben had put on enough weight and was allowed to go home weighing 4lb 11oz! It was such a special time and we were so happy because we were a family at last. We were very fortunate to have a good team of people looking after us, both at our Doctors' surgery and in hospital. I remained on blood pressure tablets for six months but thankfully over time I have made a full recovery. Reuben is thriving and is now a healthy 16 month old toddler getting into the usual kind of mischief! During my pregnancy I had briefly read about pre-eclampsia but I had never heard about HELLP syndrome until it happened to me. I had had a relatively healthy pregnancy with the usual morning sickness and a bout of sciatica. The scariest part of all was that I didn't have any of the classic symptoms of pre-eclampsia such as feeling sick, headaches, flashing lights or swelling of hands/feet, etc. However, during the last two weeks of my pregnancy I had started to feel some discomfort just below my ribs but thought it was heartburn, which is a very common problem during pregnancy. Babies are considered to be full term from 37 weeks of pregnancy and will have a maximum chance of developing healthily and allow their bodies enough time to develop and function well if they are born from this time onwards. A premature birth (or preterm delivery) is the birth of a baby born too soon i.e. before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy. According to Tommy's - the baby charity, there are around 45,000 premature babies born every year (equivalent to 125 babies born too soon per day) in the UK and this number is increasing. The number of premature babies born each year has not significantly decreased since the 1960s. Around 10-15% of women who are pregnant for the first time will develop pre-eclampsia. Also, women who have suffered from pre-eclampsia in one pregnancy have an increased chance (10-25%) of developing it in a subsequent pregnancy. At least 15% (around 6,700) of all pre-term births are as a result of pre-eclampsia and it is estimated that around 1,000 babies and seven mothers in the UK die each year from its effects and it is responsible for the death of over 200,000 women worldwide each year. For women who have had one preterm birth the risk of the same thing happening in the next pregnancy is around 15% (1 in 6). Although the risk for a second premature birth is slightly higher than in the first pregnancy, it is not a necessary outcome. In fact 85% of women who have given birth prematurely in their first pregnancy will have a normal pregnancy lasting more than 37 completed weeks the second time around. I want to help other people in similar situations to mine by raising the profile of premature births, pre-eclampsia and HELLP Syndrome. I was very lucky that my condition was caught just in time, otherwise the outcome might have been very different. After his early entry into the world Reuben started to thrive and soon needed lots of clothes. However, my husband and I struggled to find nice outfits for him to wear that we liked and that fitted him properly - there was a very limited choice available and we sometimes had to make do with larger sizes. We were so busy coming to terms with what had happened (and getting to grips with parenthood) that we didn't have time to go shopping for premature baby clothes. I decided that if we found ourselves in this situation chances were other parents would be faced with the same dilemma. After months of research and hard work I have established my own web-based business www.earlybaby.co.uk that offers a wide-range of good quality, affordable baby clothes and accessories specially created for premature and low birthweight babies. The site also provides information and resources on how to care for a premature baby. Julie PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL STATISTICAL INFORMATION WAS PROVIDED BY TOMMYS - THE BABY CHARITY, BLISS - THE PREMATURE BABY CHARITY AND APEC (ACTION ON PRE-ECLAMPSIA). Tommy's, the baby charityprovides information on health in pregnancy, pregnancy problems such as pre-eclampsia, miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth, and toxoplasmosis. They also provide free information leaflets for parents and parents-to-be.Tommy's Head Office Information line: 0870 777 30 60 Fax: 08707 70 70 75 Email: mailbox@tommys.org Action on Pre-Eclampsia (APEC)APEC is a registered charity that aims to raise public and professional awareness of pre-eclampsia, improve care and ease or prevent physical and emotional suffering caused by the condition. APEC:
APEC Tel: 020 8863 3271 Email: info@apec.org.uk BLISS - The Premature Baby CharityBLISS was established 25 years ago by a group of concerned parents and has since they have since developed into the leading national charity working in this field. Whilst advances in technology have resulted in more babies surviving there are chronic shortages of specialist nurses to provide the care. Some mothers and babies are transported hundreds of miles just to find a cot in a neonatal unit with the right facilities. BLISS is committed to addressing this crisis by:
BLISS Tel: 0870 770 0337 Email: information@bliss.org.uk |
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| Traumatic Birth experience |
| My first birth was quite traumatic - I was 52 hours in labour and dont really remember having much contact...Read more |
| Traumatic Birth experience |
| I had a really horrible labour with my first I went through 60 hours of labour and where they had...Read more |
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