Who gets HELLP syndrome?
Doctors don’t know exactly what causes HELLP syndrome. They also can’t predict who will get it. Any pregnant woman may get this illness.
Most women who will get HELLP have blood pressure problems before they get HELLP syndrome. (But you can get HELLP syndrome even if your blood pressure is normal.)
You're more likely to get HELLP syndrome if you're white and older than 25 years of age. You are also more likely to get it if you have had children before or if you had a problem with a pregnancy in the past.
HELLP Syndrome: Recognition and Perinatal Management by Maureen O'Hara Padden, LCDR, MC, USN (American Family Physician September 01, 1999, )