Pre-eclampsia occurs between 26 and 32 weeks into pregnancy.
This was actually the timing for recruitment for the study the Mirror was reporting on. The NHS says that pre-eclampsia can occur from 20 weeks into pregnancy until a few weeks after delivery.
“Pre-eclampsia reduces the flow of blood through the placenta, and can lead to stillbirth or even the death of the mother. It happens between 26 and 32 weeks of gestation.”
A Daily Mirror newspaper article from 23 September reported on a recent study which investigated the use of the diabetes drug metformin to treat pre-eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia is a serious and potentially fatal condition related to pregnancy which affects blood pressure and protein loss.
In the article, the Daily Mirror states that pre-eclampsia “happens between 26 and 32 weeks of gestation”, meaning from 26 to 32 weeks of pregnancy. However, this was actually just the timing for recruitment of pregnant women into the study.
As stated on the NHS website, and in other sources, pre-eclampsia can occur from around 20 weeks into pregnancy until approximately a few weeks after birth.
The information included in this article contains the latest information available at the time it was written. This is not a substitute for medical advice. If you require specific medical advice please consult your GP or midwife.
After we published this fact check, we got in touch to request a correction regarding a claim made in The Mirror.
They thanked us for bringing this to their attention and agreed to print a correction in the paper.
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