Postpartum recovery after severe pre-eclampsia and HELLP-syndrome

Postpartum recovery was examined in 100 pregnancies complicated by severe pre-eclampsia, and in 15 pregnancies in which HELLP-syndrome was present. Albuminuria disappeared and diastolic blood pressure returned to normal (< 90 mmHg) in half of the cases within one week postpartum. Postpartum recovery in the cases with HELLP-syndrome did not differ from that seen in the pre-eclamptic patients. Thrombocytopenia showed spontaneous resolution within three days after delivery. In stepwise discriminant analysis, the incidence of IUGR predicted a slow postpartum recovery, but this did not apply to other factors. Such as diastolic blood pressure before delivery, duration of subjective symptoms, duration of pregnancy or severity of albuminuria. Elevated diastolic pressure and/or albuminuria were diagnosed two months postpartum in one third of the patients. If the development of eclampsia is prevented by correctly timing the induction of delivery, relatively good short-term postpartum recovery is protable after severe pre-eclampsia and HELLP-syndrome.