Pre-eclampsia affects 1 in 16 women
It is a serious condition that causes high blood pressure and protein in the urine. Current antenatal testing involves mothers coming into hospital for blood testing, this may include a hospital admission to await results and frequent checkups of blood pressure and urine within the community.
NICE has recently approved a blood test that will decrease the need for hospital admission. The test can be taken between 20 and 35 weeks of pregnancy and will be able to say whether pre-eclampsia is likely in the next 7-14 days.
This will help avoid babies being delivered unnecessarily early and is a really positive step for the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia.
