Preeclampsia and high blood pressure after delivery

Postpartum preeclampsia is a pregnancy-related blood-pressure problem that appears during the period after birth. It may occur even when blood pressure was normal during pregnancy. A clinician may check repeated blood-pressure readings, urine for protein, and blood tests that show how the liver, kidneys and blood-clotting system are working.

Possible warning symptoms include a severe or persistent headache, visual changes, pain beneath the ribs, sudden swelling, nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath or feeling unusually unwell. Symptoms can be mild at first, and some people have no obvious symptoms.

Contact your maternity team or doctor promptly if a reading is higher than the range they gave you, or if symptoms appear. Keep a record of readings, symptoms and medicines. Take prescribed blood-pressure treatment exactly as directed; do not stop it because you feel better or change it while breastfeeding without advice. Rest when possible, but do not use rest alone as a substitute for assessment.

Seek emergency help for a severe headache that does not settle, loss or marked blurring of vision, chest pain, difficulty breathing, confusion, fainting, a seizure, or severe pain under the ribs. These symptoms can signal serious complications such as stroke or problems affecting the heart or kidneys and should not wait for a routine postnatal appointment.

Ask which blood-pressure readings require a call, how often to measure at home, how long treatment may continue, which medicines are compatible with breastfeeding, and when urine or blood tests should be repeated.