A simple 15 minute blood test developed at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, London, could be the long-awaited breakthrough in the detection of pre-eclampsia. The condition is a severe form of pregnancy-induced high blood pressure which is also associated with generalised oedema (fluid retention) and proteinuria (protein in urine). It affects two in every 100 pregnant women and can cause ‘fits’ which may prove fatal for both mother and baby. Around 1000 newborn babies and six to seven women die as a result of pre-eclampsia each year in the UK.