Chronic Hypertension and Pregnancy at a Tertiary-care and University Hospital

Objective: Analyze maternal and perinatal aspects related to chronic hypertension (CH) in pregnancy.

Methods: Cross-section and retrospective study. Maternal, obstetric, and neonatal variables inserted in a database of the SPSS program, version 16.0, were analyzed. Student's t-test was applied to the continuous variables and the chi-square test to the dichotomous variables, considering as statistically significant a value of p < 0.05.

Results: From March 1998 to February 2009 about 15,945 births were observed, 888 (5.5%) being related to pregnant mothers with CH. In the hypertense group, there was a higher percentage of cesarean section, preterm labor during pregnancy, abruptio placentae, small-for-gestational age babies (<2500 g), and the need for treatment in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Conclusion: CH in pregnancy was significantly associated with maternal age ≥30 years, nonwhite race, low level of schooling, parity ≥3 children, weight gain ≥16 kg, greater rates of cesarean section, Apgar score at the first and fifth minutes <7, umbilical artery pH ≤7.1, fetal weight ≤2500 g, need for neonatal intensive care, preterm labor during pregnancy, abruptio placentae, birth injury, small-for-gestational age babies and higher rates of preterm babies, fetal and neonatal mortality. It should be emphasized that the variables mentioned are representative or poor birth conditions in the group of chronic hypertense pregnant women.