Go to the hospital immediately if you have a blood pressure reading of 160/110 or higher, a severe headache that won’t go away, vision changes like blurriness or flashing lights, or pain under your ribs on the right side. These are signs that preeclampsia may be progressing to a dangerous stage, and waiting even a few hours can put both you and your baby at serious risk.
Blood Pressure Numbers That Need Emergency Care
The clearest objective trigger is your blood pressure. A reading of 140/90 or higher is the threshold for a preeclampsia diagnosis, but the number that signals an emergency is 160/110 or above. If either number hits that level and stays there for 15 minutes or more, you need urgent treatment. At these pressures, the risk of stroke, organ damage, and placental problems rises sharply.
If you’re monitoring at home and see readings creeping above 140/90 but staying below 160/110, call your provider right away rather than waiting for your next appointment. They may want you to come in for evaluation that same day. Don’t assume a single normal reading means everything is fine if you’ve had elevated readings before.
Headache, Vision Changes, and Belly Pain
Not every headache in pregnancy is preeclampsia, but the type that should send you to the hospital has distinct features. It tends to be a dull, throbbing, migraine-like pain that doesn’t respond to rest or acetaminophen. Sensitivity to light often accompanies it. If the headache persists or worsens over several hours, treat it as urgent.
Vision changes are one of the most reliable warning signs. These include blurred or double vision, flashing lights, spots in your field of vision, or temporary loss of vision. Any of these, even briefly, warrant an emergency room visit because they can signal that the condition is affecting your brain and nervous system. Mental confusion or altered behavior is an especially alarming sign that seizures (eclampsia) may be imminent.
Upper belly pain is easy to mistake for heartburn or indigestion, which is partly what makes it dangerous. Preeclampsia-related pain typically sits under the ribs on the right side, where the liver is located. It can also appear in the center of the upper abdomen. This pain often comes with nausea or vomiting. If you’re past 20 weeks and experiencing this kind of pain, especially alongside any other symptoms on this list, go to the hospital.
Other Symptoms Worth Knowing
Severe shortness of breath that isn’t explained by exertion can indicate fluid buildup in the lungs, a complication of preeclampsia. Sudden, significant swelling in your face or hands (beyond the normal puffiness of pregnancy) and a noticeable decrease in how much you’re urinating are also red flags. On their own, these may not be emergencies, but combined with elevated blood pressure or any of the symptoms above, they strengthen the case for immediate evaluation.
A change in your baby’s movements also matters. There’s no magic number of kicks to count. What’s important is whether the pattern has changed. If your baby is moving less than usual, moving more weakly, or has stopped moving, seek care right away. The CDC lists slowing or stopping of fetal movement as an urgent maternal warning sign. Trust your instinct on this one: if something feels different, get checked.
HELLP Syndrome: A Dangerous Escalation
HELLP syndrome is a severe complication related to preeclampsia that affects the liver and blood’s ability to clot. Its symptoms overlap with preeclampsia but can also include extreme fatigue, a general feeling of being unwell, yellowing of the skin or eyes (jaundice), and increasing abdominal girth. The abdominal pain tends to be colicky, hitting the right upper area or the center of the upper belly alongside nausea and vomiting.
HELLP can develop even when blood pressure isn’t dramatically elevated, which makes it tricky. If you feel profoundly ill in the second half of pregnancy with upper belly pain and fatigue that goes beyond normal pregnancy tiredness, don’t talk yourself out of going to the hospital.
What Happens When You Arrive
At the hospital, the evaluation typically moves fast. You’ll have your blood pressure monitored closely, and the team will draw blood to check how well your liver and kidneys are functioning and whether your platelet count (the cells that help blood clot) is dropping. You’ll provide a urine sample to measure protein levels, since excess protein in the urine is a hallmark of preeclampsia.
For your baby, the team will likely perform an ultrasound to estimate the baby’s weight, check growth, and measure amniotic fluid levels. A nonstress test monitors how your baby’s heart rate responds to movement. Together, these tests help determine how severe the preeclampsia is and whether delivery needs to happen soon.
If the condition is severe, you may receive an intravenous medication to prevent seizures. This is standard protocol for preeclampsia with severe features and continues through delivery and into the hours afterward. Depending on how far along you are and how serious the condition is, the medical team will weigh the risks of continuing the pregnancy against the risks of early delivery. Delivery is the only definitive treatment for preeclampsia.
After Delivery Isn’t the End
Many people assume preeclampsia disappears once the baby is born, but it can develop or worsen after delivery. Most cases of postpartum preeclampsia appear within 48 hours of giving birth, though some develop up to six weeks later. The symptoms are the same: severe headaches, vision changes, upper belly pain, nausea, shortness of breath, and decreased urination.
This matters because once you’re home with a newborn, it’s easy to attribute a bad headache to sleep deprivation or dismiss swelling as normal recovery. If you had preeclampsia during pregnancy, stay alert. And even if your pregnancy was uncomplicated, postpartum preeclampsia can appear for the first time after delivery. A blood pressure reading of 140/90 or higher in the weeks after birth, paired with any of these symptoms, is reason to go to the hospital.
When in Doubt, Go
Preeclampsia can escalate from mild to life-threatening in hours. No one at the hospital will fault you for coming in with a concerning symptom that turns out to be nothing. The conditions that preeclampsia can trigger, including seizures, stroke, liver rupture, and kidney failure, are preventable when caught early. If you have one severe symptom or two or three milder ones appearing together, the safest choice is always to be evaluated in person.