Pregnancy Eclampsia

Eclampsia is a disease occurring during pregnancy as a result of a form of toxemia or poisoning, the cause of which is not definitely known.The climax of eclampsia, which ends in convulsions and coma, may occur during pregnancy, during delivery or after delivery.

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If the pregnant woman is under the care of a doctor, the early signs may recognized in time, and measures taken to prevent its further course or else  terminate the pregnancy. It was found that if women receive good prenatal care and kept on a proper but limited diet in order to prevent overweight, the chances of developing eclampsia are greatly reduced.

A woman should not gain more than about 16 pounds in weight during the entire period of pregnancy, and should not be overweight before she becomes pregnant.

Eclampsia starts degeneration of all the vital organs of the body.The liver, kidneys, heart and brain are affected .The early symptoms are headache, dizziness, swelling of the feet, high blood pressure, and albumin in the urine.

Later in the disease the patient develops convulsions and coma. The treatment of this conditions nowadays is medical, not surgical. The patient is put to bed, her intestinal tract is throughly evacuated, she drinks large quantities of water and fruit juices, her pulse and blood pressure are reduced by drugs, and as her condition is much improved she is induced to go into labor and delivered of her baby in the natural way.

Even if a patient develops convulsions,she should be treated medically until she is  out of shock, when labor is terminated naturally, unless other factors make operative procedure necessary