"It was the fall of 2024 when Abigail Hendricks learned she was pregnant with her fifth child. She was glowing with excitement. "For me, a baby is a blessing," says Hendricks. "They are cute. They are precious. And they are a gift from God." But Hendricks, who was 33 at the time and living in Cape Town, South Africa, would later learn that her growing baby was also a grave health risk to her."
"Hendricks already had high blood pressure. Soon, the headaches began. From time to time, her vision would blur. Then protein started showing up in her urine. "I kept on fighting," she recalls. "I did go to church. I pray in the morning. I pray at night for my baby to be safe and for me to be safe." Her doctors put her on a different blood pressure medication and told her to rest."
"By this time, all of Hendricks' appointments had shifted to Tygerberg hospital, a facility in Cape Town equipped to handle more complex cases. But a month before she was due to give birth, she was losing blood pressure control. A normal reading is 120 over 80, but hers climbed to 163 over 101. Hendricks had developed preeclampsia, a potentially fatal complication of pregnancy involving damage to the blood vessels and high amounts of fluid loss."
Abigail Hendricks became pregnant with her fifth child while living in Cape Town and already had chronic high blood pressure. She developed headaches, blurred vision, and proteinuria as pregnancy progressed. Doctors changed antihypertensive medication, recommended rest, and transferred her care to Tygerberg Hospital for higher-risk management. One month before delivery her blood pressure rose to 163/101 and clinicians diagnosed preeclampsia, a condition that can cause seizures, organ damage, pulmonary and cerebral edema, hemorrhage, and fetal risk. The medical team believed both mother and baby faced life-threatening danger, prompting intensified monitoring and preparations for urgent intervention.
Read at www.npr.org
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