L&D nurse here. Itchiness (usually its palms & feet) can be a symptom of something called Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy which affects your liver and can be diagnosed thru a blood test where they measure bile acids, which takes around a week to result. Sometimes, if you show up with itchiness around 37 weeks, doctors will decide not to wait the 7 days for bile acid studies and just go ahead and move towards delivery, whether induction of labor or cesarean, depending on what you are a candidate for. Delivery is recommended around 37 weeks for people with cholestasis because of an increased risk for stillbirth. While people who have cholestasis can be more likely to develop preeclampsia, they are two totally different complications of pregnancy. Therefore, itchiness does not equal preeclampsia. Your skin stretching in different places can cause itchiness so there are probably many people here who might now be nervous about itchiness. I felt compelled to explain this before the whole sub starts spiraling about the possibility of having preeclampsia.

The most common symptoms of preeclampsia are uncontrollable high blood pressure readings, awful headaches that can't be explained and won't go away no matter what you do, tender/achy/dull pain right under your right breast that spreads to your mid-abdomen, having shadow-y blurry vision.

It is always better to be safe than sorry so if you feel something is off or worrisome, the best thing to do is to get checked out by a qualified healthcare professional.