Jane Rubinstein felt great during her first pregnancy – until the 26th week. Suddenly, she experienced upper abdominal pain that kept her up at night, and the pain was far worse than pregnancy-induced heartburn.

It was "a constriction, a pressure," she explains from her home in Farmingdale, N.Y., of her experience more than 16 years ago. "It felt tight and uncomfortable" in an area on the righthand side, just under her breasts.

Finally, days later, she told her husband, "You know what? This isn't right," and called her obstetrician. Rubinstein says he told her to meet him at the hospital's labor and delivery department immediately.

"I felt like I was humoring him," she says, but went to the hospital anyway. Her OB ran some blood tests, took her blood pressure – which had shot up to a hazardous 220/110 – and confirmed his fear: HELLP syndrome.

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