Introduction Underlying maternal factors associated with placental growth in first pregnancy may predispose for the development of preeclampsia in a second pregnancy. Such underlying factors may differ according to preeclampsia status in the first pregnancy. Objective Thus, in women with and in women without previous preeclampsia, we studied whether placental weight in the first pregnancy was associated with the risk for preeclampsia in the second pregnancy. Methods In a population-based cohort study, we included all women with two singleton births in Norway during the period 1999–2012 (n = 186,859). We calculated placental weight z-scores in the first pregnancy and divided the distribution into five groups of equal size (quintiles). We estimated odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for preeclampsia in the second pregnancy according to quintiles of placental weight z-scores in the first pregnancy. Results Among women without previous preeclampsia, 1.5% (2597/177,239) developed preeclampsia in second pregnancy as compared to 15.7% (1522/9710) among women with previous preeclampsia. In women without previous preeclampsia, there was a u-shaped association between placental weight z-scores in first pregnancy and the risk for preeclampsia in second pregnancy; crude OR 1.30 (95% CI 1.14–1.47) for pregnancies in the lowest quintile, and crude OR 1.20 (95% CI 1.06–1.36) in the highest quintile, using pregnancies in the 3rd quintile of placental weight as the reference. In separate analyses of pregnancies with previous preeclampsia, pregnancies with placental weight in the first quintile had the highest recurrence risk, crude OR 1.30 (95% CI 1.10–1.55) using the 3rd quintile of placental weight as the reference. A large placenta was not associated with recurrence risk; crude OR 0.99 (95% CI 0.83–1.18). Conclusions In women without previous preeclampsia, we found that both high and low placental weight in the first pregnancy was associated with increased risk for preeclampsia in the second pregnancy. In women with previous preeclampsia, the overall risk was increased and low placental weight further increased the risk for preeclampsia in the second pregnancy.