We lost our baby Theo after condition like Meghan Markle – it was a textbook pregnancy before he died in our arms
FOR most parents, every milestone their child reaches is a joy.
But Kate and Rob Crussell find “firsts” for daughters Elsie and Chloe bittersweet.
That’s because Elsie, eight, and Chloe, three, should have a big brother, Theo.
He would have been ten this summer but Theo died at 9pm on August 7, 2015.
He was just 44 hours old.
At 39 weeks pregnant, Kate had been diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening high-blood pressure condition.
“It’s not something I’d wish anyone to go through,” says Kate, 44, a finance business partner from Northampton.
“Not enough people know the symptoms.”
Last week, Meghan Markle revealed she suffered from the potentially fatal condition after giving birth.
On the first episode of her new podcast, the Duchess of Sussex said the diagnosis of postpartum pre-eclampsia was “rare” and “scary”.
Amina Hatia, midwifery manager for Tommy’s, the pregnancy and baby charity, explains: “Pre-eclampsia occurs during pregnancy, usually after the 20th week, while postpartum pre-eclampsia happens after birth up until six weeks postnatal.
“Whilst pre-eclampsia can affect both mother and baby, postpartum does not directly affect the baby.”
According to the NHS, symptoms include headaches, vision problems, pain just below the ribs, vomiting and swelling of the feet, ankles, face and hands.
The earliest signs are protein in urine and high blood pressure.
While pre-eclampsia is considered common, affecting up to one in 20 pregnancies, postpartum is very rare.
“People like Meghan talking about pre-eclampsia raises awareness which could save lives,” says Kate.
“More needs to be done as around 1,000 babies and four mums a year in the UK die as a result of it.”
Kate had a “textbook” first pregnancy in 2015, until 39 weeks.
“I hadn’t been unwell other than a headache, but Theo wasn’t moving as much as he normally did,” she says.
“We both decided to go to the hospital — Northampton General — and get checked out one evening around 10pm.
“We were so sure it was nothing.”
What are the symptoms?
Early signs of pre-eclampsia are listed by the NHS as:
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- Protein in urine (proteinuria)
Five other symptoms of pre-eclampsia that can occur as it progresses include:
- Severe headaches
- Vision problems, such as blurring or seeing flashing lights
- Pain just below the ribs
- Vomiting
- Sudden swelling of the feet, ankles, face and hands
But when Kate’s blood pressure was checked on arrival, Rob, 43, who works for the Aston Martin Formula One team, says the pair started to worry.
He recalls: “They checked it twice but said it couldn’t be right; it was 210/160.
“There were suddenly more and more people in the room and we were told they needed to deliver Theo as an emergency.
“They tried to get a canula into Kate but her veins were collapsing with the condition so they had no choice but to put her under general anaesthetic.”
While Kate was whisked to theatre for an emergency caesarean section, Rob sat in the family room waiting for news.
Theo was born not breathing. The team worked for 35 minutes before he started breathing on his own.
Kate says: “We were told afterwards they worked on Theo for over twice the recommended amount of time because the consultant was on their way.
He had such long toes and beautiful eyes. He was a real mix of both Kate and I. He was perfect in every way
Rob
“CPR should have stopped after 15 minutes.
“Despite him being tiny — just 4lb 15oz — he rallied and started breathing on his own.”
But, an hour after birth, Kate and Rob were told his brain damage wasn’t survivable.
“We bathed him, held him and cuddled him,” recalls Rob.
“He opened his eyes a few times too, although he didn’t make a sound.
“He had such long toes and beautiful eyes. He was a real mix of both Kate and I. He was perfect in every way.”
Baby Theo died in his parents’ arms.
World Health Organization figures show that 500,000 newborns and foetuses, and 46,000 mums, die due to pre-eclampsia each year.
Post-partum pre-eclampsia is so rare that Haley Clemens, 34, a school counsellor from Michigan, was bewildered by her diagnosis.
She had her son, Fisher, on February 12, 2022, and thought the recovery would be straightforward. Within 48 hours her blood pressure had reached dangerous levels and she was hospitalised.
She tells Sun Health: “The nurse who took my blood pressure thought the machine might be wrong – it was 184/107.
“When I was told it was postpartum pre-eclampsia and it could be fatal if it was left untreated, I got so scared.
“I remember my legs started shaking uncontrollably, I had blurred vision and everything was swimming in front of my eyes. It was honestly so terrifying.”
Treatment for pre-eclampsia includes magnesium sulphate to prevent seizures. The following 24 hours were touch and go for Haley.
“I remember asking, ‘What’s happening to me?’ when they were pumping me full of drugs,” she says.
“I asked if I was going to die and nobody answered me.”
Thankfully Haley made it home with her son a week after he was born.
Rob says: “Our son might not have been with us for long but there’s not a day when we don’t think of him.
“He’s missing from every holiday picture, every Christmas Day.”
Since 2015, Kate and Rob have raised more than £100,000 for Action On Pre-eclampsia and their local hospital.
Rob says: “Sharing his story might mean one family doesn’t have to go through what we did. That’s the legacy we want for him.”
A simple blood test could predict pre-eclampsia...
A STUDY published in Nature Communications reveals new advances in the biological understanding of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), including pre-eclampsia.
The paper also looked at a simple blood test to predict pre-eclampsia early, at 17.5 to 22 weeks gestational age, in pregnancies without any pre-existing high-risk conditions.
“By the time a patient is symptomatic, it’s a race against the clock to try to get the baby to term and not risk the mother’s health,” said Dr. Kara Rood, a maternal-fetal medicine physician, one of the principal investigators of the study, and Clinical Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
“Current guidelines are not helping us identify which patients are truly at high risk and we need better tools. This pre-eclampsia risk prediction test can now improve risk assessment, helping women and their care teams be informed and take actions with the potential to delay the onset of or prevent the disease.”
Results show the simple blood test can identify 91 per cent of pregnancies that will develop preterm pre-eclampsia in women aged 35+ without pre-existing high-risk conditions, months ahead of symptoms.
Those with a low-risk result have a 99.7 per cent probability of not developing preterm pre-eclampsia. The clinically validated blood test will soon be broadly available under the brand name EncompassTM.