Dangerous Pregnancy Disorder Brings Aliso Viejo Women to Promise Walk

At 24-weeks pregnant, your unborn baby is about the size of an ear of corn and the parents, who may already know the gender, are busy planning and prepping for their new addition.

At 24-weeks pregnant, Meredith Drews lost her unborn twin girls to a disorder that was relatively unknown.

Drews, an Aliso Viejo resident, became sick with the preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome in 2007, which led to the death of her unborn babies. At this time, there still wasn’t much information about the disorder, Drews said.

Preeclampsia, which affects both the fetus and the mother, can occur during pregnancy or in the postpartum period. It affects the mother's kidneys, liver and other vital organs. If undetected or untreated it can lead to seizures, cerebral hemorrhage, failure in vital organs and sometimes death. The cause is still unknown and the only cure begins with the delivery of the baby.

While Drews said she has seen a definite increase in awareness of the disorder, there are still many women who don’t know what it is, let alone what the warning signs are.

“It’s frustrating,” Drews said. “People don’t know what it is. They don’t know how to spell it. They don’t know how to say it.”

The Preeclampsia Foundation, a national non-profit organization for the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, provides support to patients and raises public awareness through education, research and improved health care practices.

According to the foundation symptoms include swelling in the hands and face, headaches and visual disturbances.

“Approximately 5 to 8 percent of pregnancies are affected by preeclampsia, which, in the United States, translates to approximately 300,000 pregnancies. It is a leading cause of preterm birth, and is responsible for approximately 76,000 maternal deaths and half a million infant deaths worldwide annually,” according to foundation statistics.

The foundation holds a national fundraising event, The Promise Walk for Preeclampsia, to help raise awareness. Drews is the walk chair and coordinator for the Orange County Promise Walk in Irvine on May 19. She said 200 are expected to attend this weekend’s event.

One of this year’s guest speakers and the honorary “Mission Family” is Aliso Viejo resident Tricia Carlton, who lost her sister Kathleen to preeclampsia in 1993.

Kathleen was seven months pregnant when she noticed extra swelling of her ankles and legs. Her doctor said she was simply gaining extra weight from overeating. On her next visit the doctor noticed Kathleen had very high blood pressure and kept her in the hospital for observation. That night she had a stroke, which lead to an emergency C-section and left Kathleen in a coma. She awoke from the coma in a vegetative state. After two years, with no change to her condition, Kathleen succumbed to the effects of preeclampsia.

“That is one of my goals—to encourage women and to share with friends if you feel there is something wrong with your body, especially when you are pregnant, be proactive about it,” Carlton said.

Carlton participated in her first Promise Walk last year after seeing a flyer in a local Starbucks. Coincidentally, it took place on what would have been her sister’s 55th birthday.

“The promise walk is a way for some good to come out of this terrible thing my family went through,” she said.

Carlton is currently expecting her first child, a baby girl.

For more information about Irvine’s Promise Walk on May 19 at Bill Barber Park, visit the Preeclampsia Foundation website.