Objective To establish a rat model of pre-eclampsia. Methods Thirty-nine specific pathogen-free pregnant Wistar rats were divided into 3 groups, with 16 in the reduced-uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) group, 10 in the RUPP+H2O group and 13 in the sham-operation group. RUPP or sham surgery were performed on the 14th gestational day (G14). Blood pressure, urine protein and fetal status were measured on G18. Results (1)Compared with the shamoperation group, the systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure in the RUPP and RUPP+ H2O groups were increased to different degrees in the pregnant rats, but the blood pressure in the RUPP group was unstable. The diastolic blood pressure did not significantly differ between the RUPP and sham-operation groups. The blood pressure of the RUPP+H2O group increased steadily and was significantly higher than that of the RUPP group. The 24-hour urine protein levels were significantly higher in the RUPP group than in the sham-operation group on G18.(2) RUPP surgery significantly reduced the live birth and formation rates on G20. The RUPP operation significantly reduced the fetal weight and placental wet weight compared with those of the sham-operation group, and these effects were the strongest in the RUPP+H2O group. Conclusions The RUPP+H2O method induces a stable clinical manifestation of pre-eclampsia in rats and is recommended as a modified method for modeling RUPP.