Babies from Preeclampsia

Mother
 Hypertension  high blood pressure

 Pregnancy associated hypertension  occurs only during

pregnancy
 Preeclampsia  high blood pressure, edema, protein in the
urine
 Pre  before ; Eclampsia  seizures

 If preeclampsia becomes severe or is not treated 

seizures may occur
 Severe preeclampsia  liver, kidney problems, blood
clotting and other problems  HELLP Syndrome
 H – Hemolysis or breakdown of RBC
 EL – Elevated values on tests of liver function
 LP – Low platelets

If HELLP occurs  baby must be delivered even if it is very

premature.
The only cure to preeclampsia  delivery of the baby
 How does preeclampsia affect the baby ?
 If high blood pressure occurs only in the last few weeks before
due date  baby is fine
 If occurs earlier  both mother and baby may develop
problems
 The small blood vessels in the placenta tighten  allowing less
blood and nutrients to get to the baby
 Problems in infants of mothers with high blood pressure
includes :
 Still birth
 IUGR
 Need more help breathing at birth
 More likely to need oxygen in the hours after birth
 Low blood sugar
 High number of RBC
 Low number of WBC
 PDA
 Slow to feed
 Low muscle tone
 Low calcium
 Low blood pressure

Because these babies are usually premature the can have the
common problems of premature babies.
 How are these problems treated
 IUGR
 Need more help breathing after birth & O2 after birth  at
birth there are changes in the blood circulation  in the womb
very little blood goes to the lungs  placenta does most of the
work  immediately after birth the blood vessels to the lungs
must expand  allowing more blood flow to the lungs  this
process takes longer in infant from high blood pressure mother
 persistence of the fetal circulation  primary pulmonary
hypertension
 Low blood sugar
 PDA
 High number of RBC  usually does not need any treatment
 if extremely high doctors can remove some of the baby’s
blood and replace it with a solution that does not contain RBC
 Low number of WBC  usually this will come up on their own
over the first week or two  occasionaly treated by gamma
globulin or WBC from the blood bank. Babies with low WBC
 greater risk for infections while in the nursery
 Low platelets  platelets help in blood clotting  if its only a
little low no treatment may be needed  if severely low the
baby may need transfusion of platelets to prevent bleeding
 Slow to feed, low tone, low calcium  usually result from the
use of magnesium sulfat in the mother  improve slowly after
a few days  the baby may not pass stool or be able to feed for
a few days
 Low blood pressure  due to medicines given to the mother to
lower the her blood pressure  common problem in sick babis
even if the mother does not have high blood pressure
Will my babies have high blood pressure in later life ?

Children may be at risk for high blood pressure later in life

if :

 Their mother continues to have high blood pressure after

pregnancy

 High blood pressure runs in the family

TERIMA KASIH