A health care provider will cheque a pregnant adult female's claret pressure and urine during each prenatal visit. If the claret pressure reading is considered high (140/90 or higher), specially after the 20th week of pregnancy, the health intendance provider will likely perform blood tests and more extensive lab tests to wait for extra protein in the urine (called proteinuria) besides as other symptoms.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists provides the post-obit criteria for a diagnosis of gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, eclampsia, and HELLP syndrome.

Gestational hypertension is diagnosed if a pregnant woman has high blood pressure simply no protein in the urine. Gestational hypertension occurs when women whose blood pressure levels were normal before pregnancy develop loftier blood pressure level afterward 20 weeks of pregnancy. Gestational hypertension can progress into preeclampsia.1

Mild preeclampsia is diagnosed when a pregnant woman has:two,iii

  • Systolic claret pressure (top number) of 140 mmHg or higher or diastolic blood pressure (bottom number) of xc mmHg or college and either
    • Urine with 0.iii or more than grams of protein in a 24-60 minutes specimen (a drove of every drib of urine within 24 hours) or a protein-to-creatinine ratio greater than 0.iii
      or
    • Claret tests that show kidney or liver dysfunction
    • Fluid in the lungs and difficulty breathing
    • Visual impairments

Severe preeclampsia occurs when a meaning woman has any of the following:

  • Systolic blood force per unit area of 160 mmHg or college or diastolic blood pressure of 110 mmHg or higher on two occasions at least 4 hours apart while the patient is on bed rest
  • Urine with v or more grams of protein in a 24-hour specimen or 3 or more grams of poly peptide on 2 random urine samples collected at least 4 hours apart
  • Exam results suggesting kidney or liver impairment—for case, blood tests that reveal low numbers of platelets or loftier liver enzymes
  • Severe, unexplained stomach pain that does not respond to medication
  • Symptoms that include visual disturbances, difficulty animate, or fluid buildupiv

Eclampsia occurs when women with preeclampsia develop seizures. The seizures can happen before or during labor or afterward the baby is delivered.

HELLP syndrome is diagnosed when laboratory tests testify hemolysis (flare-up carmine blood cells release hemoglobin into the claret plasma), elevated liver enzymes, and depression platelets. There also may or may not be extra protein in the urine.5

Some women may likewise be diagnosed with superimposed preeclampsia—a state of affairs in which the woman develops preeclampsia on top of high blood pressure that was present before she got pregnant. Wellness intendance providers wait for an increase in blood pressure and either protein in the urine, fluid buildup, or both for a diagnosis of superimposed preeclampsia.

In addition to tests that might diagnose preeclampsia or like problems, wellness care providers may practise other tests to assess the health of the mother and fetus, including:

  • Claret tests to see how well the mother'south liver and kidneys are working
  • Blood tests to bank check blood platelet levels to see how well the mother's blood is clotting
  • Blood tests to count the total number of red blood cells in the mother's blood
  • A maternal weight check
  • An ultrasound to appraise the fetus's size
  • A check of the fetus's heart rate
  • A concrete exam to look for swelling in the female parent's face, hands, or legs as well as abdominal tenderness or an enlarged liver

Citations

Shut Citations

  1. Saudan, P., Brown, G. A., Buddle, M. Fifty., Jones, K. (1998). Does gestational hypertension become pre-eclampsia?British Periodical of Obstetrics and Gynaecology,  105(eleven), 1177–1184.
  2. ACOG Committee on Practice Bulletins, Obstetrics. (2020). Gestational Hypertension and Preeclampsia: ACOG Do Bulletin Number 222 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32443079/
  3. ACOG Commission on Practice Bulletins, Obstetrics. (2019). Chronic Hypertension in Pregnancy: ACOG Practice Message Number 203 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30575676/
  4. Sibai, B. M. (2012). Hypertension. In S. G. Gabbe, J. R. Niebyl, J. L. Simpson, M. B. Landon, H. L. Galan, E. R. Yard. Jauniaux, & D. A. Driscoll (Eds.),Obstetrics: Normal and problem pregnancies (6th ed., pp. 631–666). Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders.
  5. Haram, K., Svendsen, E., & Abildgaard, U. (2009). The HELLP syndrome: Clinical issues and management. A review. BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth , 9, 8. Retrieved June vi, 2016, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2654858/ external link

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