Pregnancy Signs & Symptoms, Week by Week Pregnancy Guide

The Edmonton Journal recently ran a story about a woman’s experiences with the HELLP Syndrome and how it turned her low risk pregnancy into a high risk one, requiring the mother to forsake her birthing plan in a birthing tub for a C section.

So what is the HELLP Syndrome? It is a collective term used to describe a life-threatening obstetric complication, which is like preeclampsia but which incorporates three components – Hemolytic Anemia, Elevated Liver Enzymes and Low Platelet count. Sometimes HELLP can also develop after the birth.

Symptoms for HELLP Syndrome to look out for are –

• Many who go on to have this condition are already identified as having gestational hypertension or preeclampsia.
• In many cases, women experience headaches that gradually increase in severity.
• There is often blurred vision.
• Most women report malaise – general discomfort or uneasiness.
• Some have nausea and vomiting.
• A majority of women report feeling a ‘band’ like pain in the upper abdomen.
• There could also be paresthesia which is the feeling of tingling in the extremities.
• There could be edema in some cases which is fluid retention and swelling due to this.

Misdiagnosis of HELLP could mean liver failure and even death in rare cases.