# Pre-eclampsia

Condition · id `maternal:preeclampsia` · Maternal & Newborn Atlas · release `15708f235d73cd42` (public)

> General information from published sources, not medical advice, and not reviewed by clinicians. Check the cited source before relying on anything here.

The atlas's own text and curation may be reused under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/): credit the atlas, and do not use it commercially. See the atlas About page. Text quoted from a source stays under that source's own terms, given as the source's reuse\_basis. The atlas's reuse terms do not cover it. The downloads list each quotation with its source in third\_party\_quotations.

Also called: Preeclampsia

Browse, life stage: Pregnancy; Postpartum  

## In plain language

A condition of pregnancy in which blood pressure rises after 20 weeks and, at the same time, there are signs that other parts of the body are affected. These can include protein in the urine, or problems with the kidneys, liver, blood or brain, or with the placenta and the baby’s growth.

## Technical summary

NICE NG133 (terms used) defines it as high blood pressure first seen after 20 weeks of pregnancy, above 140 mmHg systolic or above 90 diastolic, together with at least one new problem: protein in the urine, or dysfunction of the kidneys, liver, nervous system or blood, or of the uteroplacental unit (for example poor fetal growth, abnormal umbilical artery doppler results or stillbirth). Other guidelines and trials define it differently; the CHAP trial used ACOG criteria, and this atlas has not compared the two. Pre-eclampsia can develop in women who have chronic hypertension (NG133 1.3.12; CHAP registry description). The recipient is the pregnant woman; fetal and newborn consequences sit in claims with their own contexts.

## Connected pages

- One of the three groups NICE lists under hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (`maternal:hypertensive-disorders-of-pregnancy`)
- Pre-eclampsia can develop in women who already have chronic hypertension: Chronic hypertension in pregnancy (`maternal:chronic-hypertension-in-pregnancy`)
- Related to: sFlt-1/PlGF ratio (`maternal:sflt1-plgf-ratio`)
- Evaluated for this: Antihypertensive drug treatment for non-severe hypertension in pregnancy (`maternal:antihypertensive-treatment-non-severe-hypertension-pregnancy`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `maternal:claim-chap-any-preeclampsia` and its context]
- Recommended for this: Low-dose aspirin to prevent pre-eclampsia (`maternal:low-dose-aspirin-preeclampsia-prevention`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `maternal:claim-nice-ng133-1-1-2-aspirin-high-risk` and its context]
- Recommended for this: Low-dose aspirin to prevent pre-eclampsia (`maternal:low-dose-aspirin-preeclampsia-prevention`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `maternal:claim-nice-ng133-1-1-3-aspirin-moderate-risk` and its context]
- Recommended for this: PlGF-based testing for suspected preterm pre-eclampsia (`maternal:plgf-based-testing`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `maternal:claim-nice-htg630-1-1` and its context]
- Evaluated for this: Elecsys sFlt-1 and Elecsys PlGF (Roche) (`maternal:elecsys-sflt1-plgf`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `maternal:claim-praecis-k241453-performance` and its context]
- Risk raised by: Nulliparity (`maternal:nulliparity`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `maternal:claim-nice-ng133-1-1-3-nulliparity-risk-factor` and its context]
- Investigated in: CHAP (Chronic Hypertension and Pregnancy) trial (`maternal:chap-trial`)

## Provenance

Content hash: 07e0683e785a13af76a84b592d42b5f5b7161136b122e1cd7ec4e2da6566dfb5
Last substantive edit: 2026-10-11
Evidence last checked: Not recorded