Diagnosis of eclampsia

This is an emergency diagnosis. A seizure may be the first obvious sign, and eclampsia can occur during pregnancy or after delivery. The care team starts urgent treatment while checking the person and looking for other explanations.

Clinicians assess the seizure, pregnancy or postpartum history, blood pressure, level of alertness, reflexes, breathing, and other neurological signs. They ask about headache, visual changes, upper abdominal pain, nausea, swelling, and reduced urine, although these symptoms may not all be present.

Blood tests can look for changes affecting the liver, kidneys, and blood-clotting system. A urine test may check for protein. These findings can support pre-eclampsia, but a seizure with no other obvious cause can still lead clinicians to treat for eclampsia.

The team may use brain imaging or other tests when the symptoms suggest stroke, bleeding, infection, epilepsy, low blood sugar, medication effects, or another neurological problem. The diagnosis is based on the whole clinical picture rather than one test alone.

The person is protected from injury, positioned to help keep the airway clear, and monitored closely. Clinicians may give magnesium sulfate to prevent further seizures, manage dangerously high blood pressure, provide oxygen or breathing support, and check fluid balance.

The obstetric team also assesses the baby and considers the safest timing and method of birth once the mother is stabilised. A Caesarean Section may be discussed when it is clinically appropriate, but the choice depends on the pregnancy, the baby, the cervix, and the condition of both patients.

Call emergency services immediately for a seizure during pregnancy or after birth, even if it stops quickly or the person becomes alert again. Do not restrain the person, put food or medicine in the mouth, or try to move them unless the area is unsafe.

While help is coming, clear nearby objects, protect the head, note when the seizure began, and place the person on their side if possible. Severe headache, flashing lights or blurred vision, confusion, severe upper-abdominal pain, breathlessness, or very high blood pressure also require urgent assessment because they can accompany serious pregnancy-related complications.

You could ask which findings support eclampsia, which alternative causes have been checked, how your blood pressure and organ tests are changing, what seizure-prevention treatment is planned, and how the team is monitoring your baby.

Ask what symptoms should prompt urgent help after discharge, whether follow-up blood-pressure checks are needed, and who to contact if headache, visual symptoms, pain, confusion, or another seizure develops.