I was very active and had a normal pregnancy however the entire pregnancy passed through with severe nausea, vomiting and fatigue. At 22 weeks I had an acute bladder retention and hospitalised for catheterization. Things changed upside down from 26 weeks onwards. I woke up with blurry vision, nausea, floaters, swelling and severe headache which is not going away with medication. So, I went to get that checked and surprisingly my blood pressure was skyrocketing. Clinicians confirmed as pre-eclampsia from blood test and urine analysis. I couldn’t accept this in the beginning as I was very conscious and active especially following a healthy diet. Since then, I felt my second home was hospital. They done a continuous monitoring and inpatient management for every 2 days up until 35weeks. This monitoring was a great relief for me to reassure baby is alive because I was unable to feel the strong baby movement and some days I don’t feel at all. Later consultant confirmed reduced fetal movement is due to high blood pressure. The excitement and thrilling of my pregnancy turned into very stressful days.

At 36weeks, I was attending the appointment in clinic and due to raised BP, they decided to induce me. I started with sudden and severe contraction within 20min after induction. I was unable to walk and lost the sensation of my legs. I felt terribly unwell and baby’s heart rate was dropping down. I was rushed to taken to theatre but I became unconscious at this point. When I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by team of doctors and equipment’s attached all over me. After all those traumatic hours I saw beautiful baby and I felt over the moon. We been in hospital for days as baby born tiny and regulating my blood pressure trying different medication. Once I got home, the new phase of baby’s life and post partum pre-eclampsia was hitting so hard. I felt so drained and lived my life in fear of multiple episodes of collapsing. I was carrying baby in my hand when I took for a 6 week check up in hospital and baby was saved by the staff before I collapsed.

My Baby is now 13 months old and till this day, still dealing with high blood pressure and now living with symptoms of recently diagnosed heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy which is secondary to pre-eclampsia. It is very important to listen to your body and must seek immediate medical attention as this can cause maternal/fetal complications or even death. This gave me the drive to share my story to educate and raise awareness of pre and post eclampsia as I believe every life could be saved.