Prevention and treatment of preeclampsia in pregnant women

This is an automatically translated article.

The article is written by Master, Doctor Nguyen Nhu Thu Truc - Obstetrician and Gynecologist - Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology - Vinmec Nha Trang International General Hospital.
Preeclampsia has taken the lives of many pregnant women or left them with dire consequences. So how is preeclampsia treated and how can it be prevented? Listen and share with Master. Doctor Nguyen Nhu Thu Truc, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vinmec Nha Trang General Hospital.

1. What is preeclampsia?

Preeclampsia (or toxic pregnancy) is a common dangerous disorder for pregnant women after the 20th week. Manifestations of preeclampsia can include: High blood pressure, protein levels in the blood. increased urine,...
Up to now, the cause of preeclampsia has not been clearly identified. However, some theories suggest that preeclampsia during pregnancy may be due to an imbalance of prostaglandins, which relax the body and maintain contractions of smooth muscles, which play an important role important in the contraction and contraction of blood vessels during pregnancy.

Preeclampsia causes many dangerous complications for both mother and baby during childbirth, such as increasing the risk of premature birth, low birth weight baby. In particular, preeclampsia can lead to eclampsia, in which pregnant women have convulsions, loss of consciousness, and possibly a life-threatening coma if not treated promptly. In addition, pre-eclampsia is also the cause of many dangerous diseases after birth, including cerebrovascular accident, serious kidney damage, chronic kidney disease,...
Pregnant women, especially in In the later stages of pregnancy, the closer to the time of labor, it is necessary to pay special attention to abnormal signs and have a reasonable antenatal care regimen at the hospital. In addition, pregnant women should regularly check their blood pressure at home to detect symptoms early, thereby providing emergency treatment and timely treatment of preeclampsia, minimizing unfortunate risks.

2. How is preeclampsia treated?

Preeclampsia is a dangerous disease because it can happen in a very short period of time and has a sudden onset. Therefore, when noticing unusual signs such as leg edema, headache, dizziness, blurred vision, dizziness, rapid weight gain, epigastric pain, increased blood pressure, dark urine, pregnant women need Immediately go to medical centers for examination, testing, early detection and treatment of preeclampsia.
At Vinmec International General Hospital, pregnant women with suspected pre-eclampsia should have laboratory tests such as blood count, kidney function measurement, liver function measurement, coagulation test, blood group, and total analysis. urine. And some pregnancy tests such as: Obstetric monitoring, Doppler ultrasound and fetal movement monitoring on the machine. Especially for pregnant women at high risk of pre-eclampsia, PLGF can be tested in the first 3 months of pregnancy for early detection of preeclampsia.
If it is mild pre-eclampsia and the pregnant woman is able to self-monitor her condition, the doctor will consult carefully and the pregnant woman can go home to rest, re-examined once a week. Pregnant women at home need to monitor their blood pressure twice (morning and afternoon) every day and take note of the measured parameters corresponding to the timelines.
In addition, pregnant women need to monitor their weight, general health, take time to rest, limit work and be ready to notify the doctor about any unusual developments of the disease. In case the pregnant mother has pre-eclampsia but is in good health and has stable blood pressure, she can still go home and wait until she is full-term to go into labor as usual. If the condition is severe, potentially affecting the health of the pregnant mother, doctors will consider, if the prognosis is bad, it is necessary to induce labor within a few days.
Pregnant women with preeclampsia are often encouraged to have a cesarean delivery rather than a vaginal delivery because of the risk of preterm birth and difficulty in labor. However, when the fetus has developed to 35 and 36 weeks, the mother's cervix is ​​soft, there is still a chance to give birth naturally, the doctor will discuss carefully and closely monitor the pregnant mother during labor.

3. How to prevent preeclampsia effectively

Although experts have not yet found the exact cause of preeclampsia in pregnancy, some small studies suggest that low-dose aspirin use and adequate calcium supplementation during pregnancy have not been found. Pregnancy can reduce the risk of preeclampsia.
In addition, there are some high risk factors that can lead to preeclampsia such as: obesity, diabetes, smoking, older mother or weight gain during pregnancy,... Therefore, to reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia, pregnant women need to pay attention to eating enough nutrients of all groups of substances, not eating too much starchy, high-sugar foods, quitting smoking, and not using stimulants. . For mothers with a large weight before pregnancy, it is recommended to limit the amount of salt in the meal, give priority to eating steamed and boiled dishes, limit frying, fish sauce, and eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. Ideally, pregnant women should live in moderation, have reasonable rest, avoid overwork, be always happy and comfortable, take good care of the antenatal period as well as have regular antenatal check-ups on time to get the best results. The doctor examines and consults fully about pregnancy. In addition, pregnant women need to pay attention to observe the abnormal manifestations of the body, in order to detect early and help the treatment process of preeclampsia effectively.
Above is how to prevent and treat preeclampsia during pregnancy. Vinmec hopes that with the above information, pregnant women can be more proactive in preventing and treating preeclampsia during pregnancy.

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