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Day 142 of 280 · 20 weeks + 2 days

Preeclampsia, from now

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 8 sources · Plain-text version

Twenty weeks and two days. Preeclampsia can start after week 20. Today you put its four warning signs on one card, with two words under them: call now.

Size this week
about the size of a banana
Length this week
around 25.6 cm from head to heel
A Black woman with a small bump, in a loose knit top, having her blood pressure taken by a smiling midwife in a bright clinic room, her arm resting on the desk.

Twenty weeks and two days. You've passed a line in the calendar where one particular condition becomes possible. Today's note names it once, clearly, and gives you a card so you don't have to carry it in your head.

Your baby

A single yellow banana on a plain white linen cloth, soft daylight.

Around 25.6cm long from head to heel, about the size of a banana (NHS). The white, greasy coating called vernix may protect your baby's skin from drying out, and later help them move down the birth canal (NHS).

Your body

Preeclampsia is high blood pressure with signs of liver or kidney damage, starting after the 20th week of pregnancy, and it occurs in 3% to 7% of all pregnancies (MedlinePlus). It can also appear after the birth; MedlinePlus says the risk lasts up to 6 weeks after delivery (MedlinePlus). This is why your blood pressure is checked at every follow-up visit (OWH), and why the CDC's plainest advice is to go to every appointment (CDC).

NICHD lists the risk factors: a first pregnancy, preeclampsia in a previous pregnancy, being 35 or older, carrying two or more babies, and obesity (NICHD). Many people with none of these get it, and many with several don't. The signs are what matter.

Try today

  1. The preeclampsia primer

    Time: 5 minutes

    1. On the call-line card on your fridge, write the CDC's three: a headache that won't go away or gets worse; changes in your vision; extreme swelling of your hands or face (CDC).

    2. Add the NHS's fourth: pain below the ribs (NHS).

    3. Underneath, write "Call now, not tomorrow." The CDC says to seek medical care immediately for these (CDC).

    4. Add a last line: "Until 6 weeks after the birth" (MedlinePlus).

    Make it work:

    If you see any other provider, a dentist or an urgent-care doctor, tell them you're pregnant; the CDC asks you to tell every provider, through the year after birth (CDC).

Watch for

  • Normal

    an ordinary headache that eases with rest (MedlinePlus).

    Seek care immediately

    for a headache that won't go away or gets worse over time (CDC).

  • Normal

    tired eyes at the end of the day.

    Seek care immediately

    for changes in your vision (CDC); the NHS says to get urgent help for vision problems (NHS).

  • Normal

    swollen hands and feet, which are on this week's list (NHS).

    Seek care immediately

    for extreme swelling of your hands or face (CDC).

  • Normal

    fullness and heartburn after eating (NHS).

    Call your provider

    urgently for pain below the ribs (NHS).

For you

You may hear about low-dose aspirin. The CDC says providers may recommend it for some higher-risk women, and that it can reduce the risk when started at the right time (CDC). MedlinePlus is just as clear on the other half: don't start baby aspirin unless you've consulted your doctor first (MedlinePlus). If you have a risk factor and nobody has mentioned it, ask at your next visit.

If you're the partner: learn the four signs by heart. If she says her head has hurt for two days, or the room looks strange, you're the one who says "we're calling now."

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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