Preeclampsia: The dangerous pregnancy condition is affecting more women

Preeclampsia, a dangerous blood pressure condition, and other pregnancy-related complications have been on the rise, worsening the maternal health crisis in the U.S. The condition can be deadly. While there is no clear cause for preeclampsia, there are several potential risk factors.

High tension

Preeclampsia usually develops in the 20th week of pregnancy and is associated with high blood pressure or hypertension, high levels of protein in urine and damage to the kidneys or other organs. In addition, those with preeclampsia are at higher risk for developing kidney disease, heart disease and stroke later in life. They are also more likely to have preeclampsia during future pregnancies.

The rate of preeclampsia has more than doubled between 2007 and 2019 and has developed in many people who were otherwise healthy. "Cardiovascular causes — including preeclampsia — were behind about a third of U.S. maternal deaths in 2020," said The Wall Street Journal. "Doctors don't know why for sure, but possible risk factors include poor diet, obesity, older age and stress." There was also a marked increase during the pandemic. "Right away, there was chatter about more hypertension and preeclampsia being noticed in the Covid hot spots," Jennifer Jury McIntosh, a maternal-fetal-medicine specialist in Milwaukee, said to The New Yorker.

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"The coronavirus attacks endothelial cells, which form the cellophane-like lining of blood vessels," said The New Yorker. "Ob-gyns began to suspect that the virus affects the vessels of the placenta, which ferries oxygen and nutrients to the fetus." This type of damage could potentially be a trigger for preeclampsia. The condition is associated with pregnancy but can often occur after giving birth. "Once a pregnant person develops preeclampsia, the condition can't be reversed with medications. Only delivering the baby — and the placenta — reverses the process and even then does not always completely solve things," said Vox. "In up to 28% of cases, preeclampsia persists or worsens after delivery."

Moms in crisis

The U.S. is suffering an ongoing maternal health crisis. The country has the highest maternal death rate of any developed nation, with Black and Indigenous women being disproportionately affected. The large majority of these deaths are preventable. "The link between the coronavirus and preeclampsia is of particular concern in the U.S., a country that is unusually terrible at managing both Covid and pregnancy complications," said The New Yorker.

Conditions like preeclampsia are also not being diagnosed early enough for proper intervention. "There's historically been a lot of disagreement among medical professional societies about what constituted hypertension in pregnancy — and whether lowering elevated blood pressures in pregnancy would harm the fetus," said Vox. Knowledge about preeclampsia and postpartum risk is also limited. Postpartum complications "is a field that has gone largely ignored and needs more attention," Eleni Tsigas, the chief executive of the nonprofit Preeclampsia Foundation, said to the Journal.