Pre-eclampsia and High Blood Pressure During Pregnancy

Prevention

If you have chronic high blood pressure (hypertension), you can lower your blood pressure before pregnancy by exercising, eating a diet low in sodium and rich in fruits and vegetables, and staying at a healthy weight. Lowering your blood pressure reduces your risk of pre-eclampsia.

When you are pregnant, regular checkups are key to early detection and treatment. Prompt treatment is vital to preventing the development of severe and possibly life-threatening pre-eclampsia.

Recent pre-eclampsia research suggests that calcium supplements and low-dose ASA (Aspirin) may help prevent pre-eclampsia, especially in high-risk women.

Calcium supplements may reduce the risk of developing pre-eclampsia and the risk of having a low-birth-weight baby, particularly among high-risk women who normally don't get enough calcium.⁸ Taking a calcium supplement may also lower the risk of moving from mild to severe pre-eclampsia.²¹ Other experts have found that there is no benefit from taking calcium.¹

All pregnant women can generally benefit from taking the recommended daily allowance of 1200 mg to 1500 mg (depending on age) of calcium per day.²²

Low-dose ASA (antiplatelet) therapy may help prevent pre-eclampsia. A review of studies involving over 36,000 pregnant women showed that taking antiplatelet medicine lowered their risk of pre-eclampsia, preterm birth related to pre-eclampsia, and fetal or newborn death related to pre-eclampsia.²³ Although some experts question how effective low-dose ASA is, others assert that high-risk women who take it regularly as directed do significantly lower their pre-eclampsia risk.²⁴ Talk to your health professional about whether this treatment is right for you.

Research shows that taking vitamin C or vitamin E supplements does not help prevent pre-eclampsia.^{25, 26}

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Author:	Shannon Erstad, MBA/MPH Carrie Henley	Last Updated: March 15, 2007
Medical Review:	Joy Melnikow, MD, MPH - Family Medicine Anne C. Poinier, MD - Internal Medicine Gregory A L Davies, MD, FRCSC, FACOG - Maternal-Fetal Medicine William Gilbert, MD - Perinatology
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