"...As far as we can tell, the babies born to HELLP moms especially late onset...bigger babies) tend to do okay..."

Question: Has any research been done to indicate there might be a connection between a pregnant mother's late-onset toxemia or HELLP and the resulting baby's later learning challenges in school, such as dyslexia or ADD? 

Answer: I haven't read of any such connections but I certainly wouldn't rule it out.  This is one of the things I'd like to address at some later date.  There is a growing body of literature showing that prenatal exposures are important determinants of adult disease.  We are looking into exactly this possibility with another condition, hyperemesis gravidarum.  The data on starvation in pregnancy is quite clear -- children that are in utero during famines have much higher rates of mental disorders later in life.  But as for HELLP, I have heard nothing about it.  If I can keep contact with the women in the study, I will be able to collect specific data on this in the future.  Some of the children are too young to know yet.  I'll give this some more attention at a later date.
 

 



Question: My grandson Roman, now 10, was full-term (in fact he was more than a month overdue!) and physically healthy from the beginning.  However, when he got to kindergarten and first grade, the teachers suspected a degree of dyslexia, and his 4th-grade teacher this year is suggesting attention deficit disorder and recommending Ritalin.  My daughter won't allow her son to be drugged at the recommendation of the school.  She has rigorously tutored him in reading and we all thought the problem was solved because by third grade he had improved greatly and was making Bs.  But this year his grades, especially in math (which of course also requires reading in order to do the problems) dropped, and he has problems concentrating in the hubbub that goes on in today's classrooms and he also struggles with time constraints.
 
I notice although you refer to children 18-24 months old, you don't mention children older than that, so I'm assuming no studies have been done involving the intellectual ramifications of HELLP on the older ones.  If you ever hear of such research, please let me know.  Thank you.