Cognitive function after pre-eclampsia: an explorative study

Background. Pre-eclampsia and eclampsia relate to cerebral damage. Memory and concentration problems are frequently reported after these pregnancy-related vascular complications. We tested the hypothesis that in formerly pre-eclamptic women cognitive functioning is impaired as compared with healthy parous controls. Methods. Women with a recent history of pre-term pre-eclampsia (PPE; n=47), term pre-eclampsia (TPE; N=18), pre-term birth (PBI; n=32) or an uneventful pregnancy (UPR; n=72) completed a set of questionnaires, measuring cognitive problems, PTSD, depression, anxiety and fatigue. In addition, in PPE and UPR participants we tested neuropsychological performance. Results. PBI is related to higher levels of post-traumatic distress symptoms, which in turn diminished the neuropsychological test performance of PPE women. Nonetheless, women in the PPE and TPE groups did not report more cognitive problems than women in the PBI and UPR groups, but PPE raised the need for psychosocial cared. Conclusions. Cognitive complaints are common amongst young mothers. When tested, only those with psychological co-morbidity have neuropsychological impairment.