This Leading Cause of Pregnancy Complications Deserves More Attention
Hypertensive disorders are responsible for nearly 7% of maternal deaths in the US. New technologies could reduce that number.
Olympian Allyson Felix learned about preeclampsia the hard way. Here, she testifies before Congress.
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesPreeclampsia may be one of the most common serious pregnancy complications, but women too often aren’t told what to look out for. The condition wasn’t even on Olympic track star Allyson Felix’s radar when she was pregnant with her first child in 2018. She’d picked out her birthing suite and was focused on having a “natural, beautiful, peaceful birth,” she says.
Then at a routine 32-week appointment, her doctor was alarmed by her high blood pressure and abnormal protein levels in her urine. Her condition was so serious that she wound up being hospitalized and delivering her daughter within 48 hours.