Missed diagnosis of Pre-Eclampsia
If the patient starts out her pregnancy with 130/70 and the 70 changes to 80, it must be looked at, not necessarily treated, but looked at. If the 80 goes up to 85, then you have to be concerned about the possibility of early pre-eclampsia, a high blood pressure condition in pregnancy which can cause damage to the mother and the baby. When there is high blood pressure in the mother, blood flow to the placenta, which nourishes the baby, is impaired and there is a higher risk of the placenta separating from the lining of the uterus (abruptio placenta).
Patients suspected of having possible pre-eclampsia are also given urine tests. Protein will appear in the urine abnormally; we call it “spill out”. Actually, the protein leaks through the filtering system of the mother’s kidneys into the urine. The mother’s kidneys filter her blood to remove her impurities and those she absorbs into her blood from the baby through the placenta. With high blood pressure, the filtering mechanism is damaged.
