How well-informed was your GP/midwife about pre-eclampsia?

[ActionPre-eclampsia]

When you (or your friend/relative) raised the symptoms with a midwife or GP, were you comfortable with the level of knowledge or did you feel they should have know more about the condition?

[Jayne1972]

My GP was great and well informed but my midwife and consultant were not in my first pregnancy. My consultant was great in my 2nd pregnancy and started me on aspirin and monitored me regularly and was very informed about pre eclampsia.

[benburger]

Not good enough! I suffered from it in my first pregnancy in 2008. However my son was born at 33wks and is a healthy child. On my second pregnancy I had more visits due to previous PE. On one of my visits about 26 wks I said to the local midwife something had changed. I could not put my finger on it but I said it felt like before. All my tests were normal and she wrote on notes..'all is well'. Within 2 weeks I was admitted to hospital and remained for a month before my daughter was born at 31 wks and 2lb 8oz. To this day I have no idea why she did not listen to me? The consultant I had in hospital was fantastic on both occasions. She is a credit to the Health Service.

[Sara_T]

I don't think my named midwife really took it seriously, in my first pregnancy I had sudden high bp at 34wks and she just brushed it under the carpet and 2wks later I was in hospital with severe pre-e. in my second pregnancy I had the same midwife and even when my consultant said he wanted me seen more often she was quite reluctant to do so as it didn't for in her schedule and she never sent me in with high bp only when it was a cover midwife I was sent in after practically every appointment.

[hannahb123]

My doctor and midwife didnt take it seriously! in my first pregnancy i had swollen hands, feet and proten in my urine + high bp i went over due and was induced only to find i had placenta previa, where the placenta came out before my baby and had abrupted due to suction cup and forceps, I was never told i had PE.

In my second i had high bp, dizzy head and swollen hands feet + abdominal pain as i had no name for what happend to me i would just ask if the same would happen again? and was told it might do, it might not. I was never given more check ups. I went over due again but took my self to hospital the day after my due date as i wasnt feeling right and was induced that night, the care of the midwife there was not a bit caring, didnt monitor me just said here is something for the labour pain and dosed me on sleeping pills, I was woken by her four hours later to find my son's head almost out. Thankfully both my children are fine x but this has put me off having anymore ,what with the lack of profession and understanding of PE.

[sarahd84]

it was very sudden with my first at 32 weeks noone had any worning id seen midwife 3 days befor and all was fine. if id known then what i know now then no im not happy with the knoledge they had. i had sever sickness from beginning to end even with meds, i was tired all the time slept 5 hours a day and was in bed at 9. and just felt terrible.

this time my 3rd baby i knew at 17 weeks that it was happening again and was just told by midwife i was paranoid. slowly bp went up and eventually they listened admitted me and put me on meds. then sent me k=home where i decided i would monitor my own bp 3 times a day and a week after they started med bp went up again and i was back in. 33 weeks and i was admitted until birth they uped meds and i begged to be delivered because i knew something was going wrong. they didnt listen at i started having problems breathing an hour befor meds were due the docs decided it sounded like i had a clot on my lung(i knew this wasnt the case as when i took my meds the issue would go away and i was aware that tightness in chest was a symptom of pre e) they didnt listen and subjected me to a nasty blood test in a main artery to check blood gases it hurt like hell and the doc they had do it done it wrong and they asked to do it again which i refused.

these attacks went on and at 35 weeks the meds were having less effect and finally one of my own team were on so after talking to my own consultant they agreed to deliver me. my kidneys and liver had started to fail.took them 6 hours and god knows how many drugs pumped into me to get a urine output. 2 days later they sent me home.

iv had no follow up tests nor check ups.

[sarahd84]

it was very sudden with my first at 32 weeks noone had any worning id seen midwife 3 days befor and all was fine. if id known then what i know now then no im not happy with the knoledge they had. i had sever sickness from beginning to end even with meds, i was tired all the time slept 5 hours a day and was in bed at 9. and just felt terrible.

this time my 3rd baby i knew at 17 weeks that it was happening again and was just told by midwife i was paranoid. slowly bp went up and eventually they listened admitted me and put me on meds. then sent me k=home where i decided i would monitor my own bp 3 times a day and a week after they started med bp went up again and i was back in. 33 weeks and i was admitted until birth they uped meds and i begged to be delivered because i knew something was going wrong. they didnt listen at i started having problems breathing an hour befor meds were due the docs decided it sounded like i had a clot on my lung(i knew this wasnt the case as when i took my meds the issue would go away and i was aware that tightness in chest was a symptom of pre e) they didnt listen and subjected me to a nasty blood test in a main artery to check blood gases it hurt like hell and the doc they had do it done it wrong and they asked to do it again which i refused.

these attacks went on and at 35 weeks the meds were having less effect and finally one of my own team were on so after talking to my own consultant they agreed to deliver me. my kidneys and liver had started to fail.took them 6 hours and god knows how many drugs pumped into me to get a urine output. 2 days later they sent me home.

iv had no follow up tests nor check ups.

[Guinevere_Clark]

All very disturbing reading. On the whole my care was great though I always wander why I was discharged home with high BP which was not resolving on Lisinopril meds....It was less than 24 hours and I was back in hospital with difficulty breathing, ridiculous BP and eclampisa to the point of virtual fitting...I was in the right place which was the main thing when things got bad but still do not think it was a very informed decision to send me home...Also, I saw one midwife at around 32 weeks who I told I was feeling dizzy, headaches etc, I had protein in my urine and I believe at that point I was very unwell with P.E, she did not offer any advice on P.E, this would have helped me get treatment earlier I think. Also some midwifes asked me why I was on weekly checks when the consultant asked for them...I had to explain protein in the urine, swelling etc but they should have known why and also helped to explain why I was being checked and the severity of PE if it turns bad.

I do feel some symptoms can and obviously do just get brushed aside and that it is at this time when symptoms occur that essential information should be given to women to empower them to know when to seek help and urgent assessment rather than feel it's ok to wait for their next scheduled appointment. Our babies are more precious than a system that is very much restricted by finances and to some extent hierarchy...