12 hours Ago
Medical secretary Sarah Mullins, aged 55, suffered from postpartum preeclampsia after having her son Ben. Preeclampsia and postpartum preeclampsia are both serious conditions involving high blood pressure. Preeclampsia occurs during pregnancy - usually after the 20th week - but postpartum preeclampsia develops after childbirth, most commonly within 48 hours.
Sarah had both - after her own mother suffered with the condition during pregnancy too. She said: "I didn't realise it can run in families. Apparently, my mum had it with my older sister.
"For the first baby I was quite nervous, quite scared, and when I went for a checkup at 30 weeks, I had to do a urine sample when I was told that there was a lot of protein in the sample. "When the GP checked my blood pressure, it was quite high as well, which is unusual for me. She was upset but says her doctor told her to calm down and go home, adding he would do a home visit later and redo the checks when she was calmer.
But the next test showed her blood pressure was even higher and she was admitted to hospital. Ben as a baby (Image: Sarah Mullins / SWNS) Sarah says she was "absolutely petrified" and had to spend two weeks in hospital while being checked daily. .
She was put on blood pressure medication which worked but staff kept her in to "keep an eye" on her and ensure she didn't have any fits. After two weeks in hospital, Sarah was told that the special care baby unit was closing over Christmas and was transferred to another, more specialist hospital by ambulance. She said: "The sirens were going and I just remember thinking: 'What's going on?' "When I arrived there, I was surrounded by medical people - one was checking swelling on my feet, one was checking swelling on my face.
They were taking blood...
Jack Rawlins.
