In addition to preeclampsia, three other blood pressure disorders can occur in pregnancy:

• Gestational hypertension. Pregnant women with this condition have high blood pressure (hypertension) but no excess protein in their urine (proteinuria). In most cases, the blood pressure is only mildly elevated and occurs in the later stages of pregnancy. Women diagnosed with gestational hypertension will be monitored for proteinuria, which suggests that the condition has progressed into preeclampsia. According to the Mayo Clinic, approximately one in four women with gestational hypertension develops preeclampsia. This condition is also known as transient hypertension.
  
  
• Chronic hypertension. Pregnant women with this condition have high blood pressure that appears before the 20th week of pregnancy or lasts more than 12 weeks after delivery. Although some women are aware of their high blood pressure before becoming pregnant, many women are unaware of the disorder. Chronic hypertension is often discovered during prenatal care. However, because blood pressure is often low in early pregnancy, it may not be detected immediately. Because this condition is not caused by pregnancy, it does not disappear after delivery. For women who have high blood pressure before becoming pregnant, pregnancy can make the condition more severe.  Women with preexisting high blood pressure will require close monitoring to ensure a normal pregnancy and a healthy baby.
  
  
• Preeclampsia superimposed on chronic hypertension. Pregnant women with this condition have chronic high blood pressure before they become pregnant and develop proteinuria following pregnancy. The term also describes women who have high blood pressure and proteinuria before pregnancy, when either of the conditions worsens during the last half of the pregnancy.