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As many of you are aware we welcomed our son Kesavan to this world in November 2020. We would like to share our story of his arrival. 

Tharshi’ s pregnancy was going smoothly up until her 32 week midwife appointment where her midwife noticed that her blood pressure was drastically high and protein was present in her urine. She was rushed off to the hospital and diagnosed with preeclampsia (she appeared healthy and had no symptoms otherwise). 

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure and signs of damage to other organ systems, most often the liver and kidneys. Preeclampsia usually begins after 20 weeks of pregnancy in women whose blood pressure had been normal.Left untreated, preeclampsia can lead to serious — even fatal — complications for both the pregnant woman and her baby. Currently there is no cure for preeclampsia (although there is on-going research to find a cure). The most effective treatment is to deliver the baby. 

What does this mean for the baby? 

The placenta is the organ that links the mother's blood supply to her unborn baby's blood supply. Food and oxygen pass through the placenta from mother to baby. Waste products can pass from the baby back into the mother. To support the growing baby, the placenta needs a large and constant supply of blood from the mother. In pre-eclampsia, the placenta doesn't get enough blood. The problem with the placenta means the blood supply between mother and baby is disrupted. Signals or substances from the damaged placenta affect the mother's blood vessels, causing high blood pressure. At the same time, problems in the kidneys may cause important proteins that should remain in the mother's blood to leak into her urine, resulting in protein in the urine. 

The main sign of pre-eclampsia in the unborn baby is slow growth. This is caused by poor blood supply through the placenta to the baby. The growing baby receives less oxygen and fewer nutrients than it should, which can affect development. This is called intra-uterine or foetal growth restriction.

Tharshi was in and out of hospital, during which baby was regularly monitored. She was on daily blood pressure medications and blood thinner injections. However, they were not enough. Within a matter of days, test results showed that the preeclampsia had become severe, affecting both the health of her and baby. The only cure was to deliver the baby. This was a great shock to us as he was only 34 weeks. This resulted in baby Kesavan staying in the NICU  for 2 weeks. Those were the most difficult 2 weeks of our life. 

We thank God that Kesavan left the NICU as a healthy baby, this is not always the case. There are many women who are unaware that they have preeclampsia resulting in maternal/fetal complications and even death. 

By donating money to action on preeclampsia, you are helping  to raise public and professional awareness, improve care, ease/prevent physical and emotional suffering caused by the disease.

Thanking you all in advance for your support, 

 Nesan & Tharshi