Episode 65: Preeclampsia: What Is It, and Should You Be Scared?

Guest: David L. Berry, MD, Maternal Fetal Medicine

Pre-eclampsia affects more than 200,000 pregnancies every year, just in the US alone. Dr. David Berry, a maternal fetal medicine doctor, helps us kick off the first of a four-part series where we dive into the intricacies of this disease by sharing symptoms, signs and treatment options.

In this episode, we chat about:

• What is pre-eclampsia and how is it diagnosed?
• As a Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor, what percentage of your patients are affected by pre-eclampsia? How does that compare nationally?
• Why do we see more women of color, particularly black women, affected at a higher rate than others?
• In 2022 The New Yorker published a story about the rise of pre-eclampsia cases during and post-COVID. How much of that is due to better testing/diagnostics and how much is it really rising? And what does that mean for moms-to-be?
• What is HELLP syndrome? How difficult is it to accurately diagnose? What should women and their doctors be on the lookout for in the third trimester and after birth?
• What are the treatment options for pre-eclampsia?
• If a woman suspects she has pre-eclampsia or is diagnosed with it, what should she be asking her doctor?
• What’s your best advice to a woman diagnosed with pre-eclampsia?

Dr. Berry is a specialist in maternal-fetal medicine, a branch of obstetrics that manages and treats complicated and high-risk pregnancies. He is a native Texan and moved to Austin in 1978. He graduated from the University of Texas followed by his medical training in Galveston, Ft. Worth and Houston. He was the founder of Austin Perinatal Associates in 1997 and has served the women of central Texas with complex pregnancies since that time. He is an expert in pre-eclampsia, critical care obstetrics, cancer in pregnancy and cervical cerclage, and currently is employed under Texas Children’s Hospital as they expand their footprint into central Texas.

New Yorker article:

Why a Life-Threatening Pregnancy Complication is on the Rise 

Connect with Dr. Berry:

Texas Children’s Hospital Pavilion for Women