Preeclampsia and Pregnancy

Sybil and Tom Branson welcoming the latest edition into their family.

 

 

Please note: In case you haven't watched Season 3 of Downton Abbey, please do not continue reading this post.  Spoilers!

 

Preeclampsia, which can also be titled toxemia or pregnancy-induced hypertension, is a disorder that affects both the mother and the unborn child during a pregnancy.  Its most recognizable signs include swelling (usually most noticeable in the ankles), elevated blood pressure and protein in the urine.  Doctors and scientists have been puzzling over its cause for nearly 2,000 years, since it was first recognized and noted.  For every minute we are given on this earth, somewhere a women dies in pregnancy or childbirth.  In the United States currently, preeclampsia is responsible for approximately 18% of all maternal deaths. 

 

In the 18th century, doctors grew to an understanding that eclampsia was different than epilepsy.  Their solution was to let blood (first in the arm and then the temporal artery was employed), administer opium to calm the afflicted mother, and splash water on the face.  If at all possible, they tried to rush the child into premature birth, but they wouldn't start this process until the mother's body was ready.  By the 19th century, doctors could spot the signs of eclamptic hypertension, symptoms such as headache, loss of vision and stomach pains, but that did not guarantee they were better prepared for the full power eclampsia has on a mother during birth.

 

Could a cesarean section have saved Sybil as Dr. Clarkson insisted?  Possibly.  The only effective treatment for preeclampsia is delivery.  Perhaps if she had been administered magnesium sulfate, to slow the seizures, but this was not common practice until the 1950s.  Perhaps there is no certain outcome to Sybil's labor, but it is certain that it can not be viewed without a box of tissues present.  If this episode was too much emotion, I would not suggest watching the BBC's Call the Midwife.

 

For more information on this condition in mothers, visit the National Institute of Heath's Public Records or Preeclampsia Foundation's Fact Sheet.