Is preeclampsia hereditary?

[faye83]

So I just found out from my mom that she had preeclampsia , yay! (sarcastic lol). Not only once, nor twice, but three times! (or so she said, she might be a little off...) Anyways she said she first had it with me (I'm the first of 3) but she still delivered me after 9 months and 15 days through a cesarea but only because her pelvic bone was too small for my  big head to go through (sorry if its not the right choice of words, I'm trying to translate it from spanish). Now she has hyperthyroidism and it might have started before I was born, hence why it probably developed into pre-eclampsia (it happened 25 years ago and seems like she didn't have a good doctor since they didn't know she had hyperthyroidism).  My sister just gave birth two months ago and she didnt have preeclampsia but she had to get a c-section too for the same reason that my mom had to. Besides that her pregnancy was perfect.
My question is, me being the first daughter, do I have more risks to develop it? I already got my thyroids checked twice and they are perfect, I'm also on the right weight for my height, 100% healthy (got the complete blood work twice) and eat ok. I'm afraid I'll get it cause 1) I'm paranoid as hell, and 2) I'm planning on moving with my bf to the other side of the world and I heard that if you have preeclampsia you can't travel. I'd be screwed anyways cause my green card expires so its either leave on my own or extradition lol oh so much stress for these wonderful times :-(

[faye83]

Thank you so much for your answer! it really gave me a peace of mind! yes everybody is telling me i proba bly wont get it, that my mother was a weird case etc etc, but who knows!

thanks to you too Joy. I have an appt with my doc at the end of the month I'll ask him about it just to double check.

[JoyRenee]

I don't think it is hereditary. But I'm no expert. I'd just ask your doctor at your next appt.

[tiredbuthappy]

if an immediate family member had it, you do have a slightly greater risk of developing it. But honestly, if you don't have other risk factors, your chances aren't much worse than the average pregnancy. Other risk factors are advanced maternal age, having it in a previous pregnancy, having hypertension, or carrying multiples. Certain sicknesses such as MS and lupus can also increase your chances. I had not of thyroid problems and a link to preeclampsia, but a quick search said it can increase your chances. but like you said, this isn't an issue for you.

According to my OB, while not much is known about why it happens, current theory says preeclampsia is a disease of implantation- meaning there's not much you can do to prevent it. Whether or not you will have it is determined as soon as you become pregnant. If you have a higher risk for the reasons listed, they will simply monitor you and watch for any symptoms. I had it with my last pregnancy, so i watch my BP and the dr keeps an eye on things. While he does more than most drs would (VERY frequent visits and an u/s at every visit to check fluid levels and condition of placenta), regular prenatal care visits would catch the signs as well, as long as they take your BP and test your urine at every visit.

Basically, this is definitely not something that I would stress about too much if I were you. Congrats on your pregnancy! There's plenty of other things for you to stress about :)

You can't travel with preeclampsia, but most people develop it late in the third trimester when you wouldn't travel anyways.