Scientists say they have discovered why a pregnancy complication which can put the lives of mothers and babies at risk runs in families. It is down to a gene passed down to a daughter by their mother, Dutch researchers told Nature Genetics. Women with this gene who become pregnant risk pre-eclampsia and its associated blood pressure and kidney problems that can be fatal, they say. It might be possible to screen for the gene, they told the BBC News website. Up to one in 10 pregnant women can get pre-eclampsia. In about one in 50 cases the condition will be severe. It can be very serious and is still responsible for the deaths of between three and five women a year as well as between 500 and 600 babies. It is caused by a defect in the placenta, which joins mother and baby and supplies the baby with nutrients and oxygen from the mother’s blood. But scientists still do not fully understand what causes it. Researchers at VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, working with Australian colleagues at Adelaide University, looked at families with two or more sisters who had experienced pre-eclampsia during a pregnancy.
