Occurrence of pregnancy-induced hypertension in selected health facilities in South East Nigeria

Abstract

Hypertensive disorders complicating pregnancy (PIH) are common and form a deadly triad along with haemorrhage and infection which contribute greatly to maternal morbidity and mortality. This research was conducted to be able to identify and describe pregnant women who are likely to become hypertensive in the course of their pregnancy. Interview technique was used as well as laboratory parameters to obtain data from a random sample of 153 pregnant women ranging between 17 and 40 years old with pregnancies aged between 1 and 9 months from two health facilities in Imo State. A total of 103 pregnant women were found to have normal Blood pressure constituting 67.3% while 50 (32.7%) were found to be hypertensive. The findings show that pregnant women who were either older (p<0.01), obese (p<0.01) had five or more children (p<0.05) with impaired blood sugar (p<0.05) and high cholesterol levels were prone to PIH. The implications of these findings will lead to the identification of pregnant women that are likely to develop high blood pressure in pregnancy and hence the institution of prompt management that would lead to a decrease in maternal mortality rate and foetal wastage. © Medwell Journals, 2012.