💥Why Preeclampsia Can Still Happen Despite Doing Everything Right?

One of the hardest truths in obstetrics

is that preeclampsia can still occur even when everything is done correctly.

Some women:

• Start antenatal care early

• Take low-dose aspirin on time

• Use calcium supplements

• Control blood pressure carefully

• Attend all follow-up visits

And yet, preeclampsia still develops  sometimes early and severe.

This is not failure.

And it is not negligence.

In many cases, preeclampsia is driven by early placental and vascular pathology that begins very early in pregnancy —sometimes before preventive strategies can fully change the course.

What medicine can do:

✔️ Reduce risk

✔️ Delay progression

✔️ Improve outcomes

What medicine cannot always do:

❌ Fully override certain biological

 mechanisms in every pregnancy

Understanding this matters because it:

 • Removes blame from the woman

• Sets realistic expectations

• Emphasizes the need for early, specialized care

• Replaces false reassurance with honest vigilance

Preeclampsia is not always preventable.

But it is always deserving of respect, close monitoring, and timely decisions.

Dr Rabab Cares

#DrRababCares 

#Preeclampsia

#HighRiskPregnancy

#MaternalHealth

#MaternalFetalMedicin

 Medicine is not just about diagnoses and protocols.

In obstetrics, every decision carries a story, a family, and a future.

Some days are joyful, some are heavy, and many are quietly exhausting.

Behind every ultrasound, every delivery, and every long night on call,

there is a responsibility we carry with humility and care.

I’m grateful for the trust women place in us during the most vulnerable moments of their lives.

This work reminds me daily that being a doctor is not about perfection 

it’s about presence, honesty, and doing your best, even when outcomes are beyond your control.

Dr Rabab Mustafa

Obstetrics & Gynecology | Medical Director

#DrRababCares 

#Obstetrics

#WomensHealth

#MaternalCare

#DoctorLife

#HealthcareWithHeart

 ⏳Uterine Artery Doppler and Preeclampsia: What Is the Link?

Preeclampsia is primarily a placental disease.

Its roots begin early long before blood pressure rises or symptoms appear.

Uterine artery Doppler helps us assess how well the placenta is forming and functioning during early pregnancy.

🔹 What is the connection?

In normal pregnancy, uterine arteries gradually adapt to allow low-resistance blood flow to the placenta.

In pregnancies that later develop preeclampsia, this adaptation may be incomplete or abnormal, leading to: 

• Increased resistance to uteroplacental blood flow

• Reduced placental perfusion

• Placental ischemia and dysfunction

These changes can be detected by uterine artery Doppler.

🔹 What abnormal Doppler findings suggest:

✔️ Higher risk of early-onset preeclampsia

✔️ Increased risk of placental insufficiency

✔️ Association with fetal growth restriction

✔️ Need for closer antenatal surveillance

Findings such as high resistance indices or persistent diastolic notching reflect impaired placentation  a key mechanism in preeclampsia.

🔹 What Doppler cannot guarantee:

❌ A normal Doppler does not rule out preeclampsia

❌ An abnormal Doppler does not mean preeclampsia is inevitable

❌ It cannot predict exact timing or severity

🔹 Why timing matters:

Uterine artery Doppler is most informative when performed in the first and early second trimester, when placental development is still ongoing.

Later in pregnancy, its value is limited for prediction, but may still support overall clinical assessment.

🎯 Key message:

Uterine artery Doppler does not diagnose preeclampsia.

It helps us understand risk early, before clinical disease appears.

It is a tool for risk stratification, not reassurance

and it works best when combined with clinical judgment and continuous follow-up.

Dr Rabab Cares

#DrRababCares 

#UterineArteryDoppler

#Preeclampsia

#HighRiskPregnancy

#AntenatalCare

#MaternalFetalMedicine

 🩺 Preeclampsia: How We Try to Protect 

 Even When Risk Is High

When a woman is at high risk of preeclampsia,

the goal of care is not to promise prevention 

but to reduce risk, delay progression, and protect both mother and baby as much as possible.

💥Protection starts before symptoms appear.

What protective care really means:

🔹 Pre-pregnancy assessment whenever possible.

Understanding baseline blood pressure, medical conditions, and previous pregnancy history matters.

🔹 Early antenatal booking

Care that starts late cannot undo processes that begin early in pregnancy.

🔹 Low-dose aspirin when indicated

Started early, at the right dose, for the right patient  not as a guarantee, but as risk reduction.

🔹 Calcium supplementation when appropriate.

Especially in populations with low dietary intake.

🔹 Tight blood pressure surveillance

Not just treatment  but trend monitoring and timely adjustment.

🔹 Focused placental and fetal surveillance

Growth scans, Dopplers, and clinical judgment  not assumptions.

🔹 Care in a high-risk setting

Where escalation decisions are made early, not after deterioration.

✌These measures do not eliminate risk 

but they change outcomes.

Protection in preeclampsia is about preparation, vigilance, and timing 

not reassurance.

Dr Rabab Cares

#DrRababCares 

#Preeclampsia

#HighRiskPregnancy

#MaternalHealth

#AntenatalCare

 🩺 Gestational Hypertension: What Should Never Be Ignored

Having gestational hypertension does not mean something will go wrong.

But ignoring warning signs is what allows complications to develop.

Not all danger signs are dramatic.

Many start quietly  and are easy to dismiss.

👁Symptoms that should never be ignored:

🔴 Persistent headache not relieved by rest or simple analgesics.

🔴 Visual disturbances (blurred vision, flashing lights, spots).

🔴 Upper abdominal or epigastric pain

🔴 Sudden swelling of face or hands

🔴 Reduced fetal movements

🔴 A feeling that “something is not right”.

💥Behaviors that increase risk:

⚠️ Skipping follow-up appointments

⚠️ Stopping BP checks because readings were once normal

⚠️ Dismissing symptoms because “labs were fine”

⚠️ Waiting for symptoms to become severe before seeking help.

Gestational hypertension does not usually worsen overnight 

but warning signs are often present before serious complications occur.

Early reporting changes outcomes.

If something feels wrong, it deserves assessment  not reassurance.

Dr Rabab Cares

#DrRababCares 

#GestationalHypertension

#PregnancyWarningSigns

#AntenatalCare

#HighRiskPregnancy

 World Cancer Day  4th February 2026

Early detection saves lives.  

Awareness drives prevention and timely

Access to care makes the difference.

#DrRababCares

#WorldCancerDay

 🩺 Gestational Hypertension: High-Risk — and Why “No Risk” Does Not Mean Safe

When we talk about gestational hypertension, we often focus on identifying high-risk women.

This is important but it is only part of the picture.

Yes, some women carry a higher baseline risk.

Women considered at higher risk include:

• First pregnancy

• Age over 35

• Obesity

• Family history of hypertension or preeclampsia

• Multiple pregnancy

• Pre-existing metabolic or vascular conditions.

These factors help us anticipate risk.

But they do not define the whole story.

🎯The critical point:

The absence of risk factors does not exclude gestational hypertension.

Many women who develop gestational hypertension:

 • Have no medical history

• Are young and healthy

• Have normal early-pregnancy blood pressure

• Do not fit the “high-risk” profile

Pregnancy itself is a physiological stress test.

It can unmask vascular vulnerability even in women who appear low-risk.

✌This is why: 

✔️ Blood pressure must be monitored in every pregnancy

✔️ Normal early readings do not guarantee ongoing safety

✔️ Follow-up protocols should not depend on risk labels alone.

👍Risk assessment guides care 

but surveillance protects outcomes.

Gestational hypertension is not a condition limited to “high-risk” women.

It is a possibility in any pregnancy.

Dr Rabab Cares

#DrRababCares 

#GestationalHypertension

#HighRiskPregnancy

#MaternalHealth

#AntenatalCare