I am only alive because I pushed for a diagnosis. All women deserve that
Mum-to-be Lynsey Gate was worried when her hands began to swell but was reassured by a midwife who suggested it was a common quirk of pregnancy.
Instead, Lynsey, 40, from Falkirk, was showing the first signs of Hellp (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelets) syndrome, a complication linked to pre-eclampsia which affects the mother’s liver and can potentially be fatal if not diagnosed early.
She recalled: “My hands swelled at 32 weeks and I became ill with agonising pain in my right side, and vomiting. I went to hospital even though my midwife had assured me there was nothing wrong. I was kept in and treated until my baby Esme was born four weeks early. She was treated in the neonatal intensive care unit.”
Lynsey has called for improved care of women with pre-eclampsia, including earlier diagnosis, while she highlighted the confusion caused by the condition’s name change. At her first antenatal visit she was asked if there was a family history of pre-eclampsia but because her mum had known and experienced the condition as toxaemia – its former name – she was unaware she was at risk. “All women deserve to know the risks and be given access to the test for pre-eclampsia and nothing should be lost in confusion over old names for dangerous conditions,” said Lynsey.
“I am lucky to be alive but only because I pushed for a diagnosis. It took months for me to recover. This is the 21st Century and we cannot have a patchwork quilt of healthcare where some get vital diagnostic tests, and others do not. A couple of months after giving birth an MRI scan showed I have been left with signs of liver damage and I have pain every day in my right side around my liver, possibly connected to having had Hellp syndrome.”
Lynsey has since given birth to Esme’s younger brother. She said: “I have had a second baby with close monitoring and, when my blood pressure did rise towards the end of the pregnancy, doctors decided to induce me at 38 weeks with my son Caden.”