Understanding Pre-Eclampsia

Pre-eclampsia is a strange name for an even stranger illness. While our awareness of this fairly common pregnancy complication dates back to ancient times, our understanding is far from complete.We know it affects women in the second half of pregnancy but we don't know why some get it and others don't.We recognise the main signs and symptoms but we don't know what causes them. And because the cause remains a mystery we have no reliable ways to stop women getting it or cure them (except by delivery) once they have it.We think of it as one disease, but actually it could be several different conditions that show themselves in similar ways.Is it any wonder, then, that expectant parents all-too-often remain ignorant about pre-eclampsia until it strikes them; that health professionals sometimes fail to spot - or act on - the warning signs; and that mothers and babies continue to suffer unnecessarily?This book aims to arm parents-to-be with the awareness they need to keep themselves and their babies safe and health professionals with the tools to monitor, treat and support the women in their care.It is co-written by three authors with unique insights into pre-eclampsia: Professor Chris Redman, one of the world's leading experts on the condition; Joyce Cowan, an academic midwife, who has studied it extensively; and Isabel Walker, a former health journalist who was Founder-Director of the world's first patient support group, Action on Pre-eclampsia (APEC). One day doctors and midwives will have the knowledge they need to defeat pre-eclampsia or at least halt it in its tracks. Until then the authors hope their book will act as a beacon of light in a world of shadows.