Impact of Obesity on Development of Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy a Comparative Study

Abstract

Objective : To determine the association of maternal obesity and pregnancy induced hypertension in a tertiary care hospital, South Punjab. Study Design: A cohort study Duration: six months Settings: This study was carried out in obstetrics and gynaecology unit 18 , Nisthar Hospital Multan. Materials & Methods: 244 pregnant normotensive women were included in the study. 122 women carrying a single fetus with Body Mass Index ≥30 kg/m2 were appended in Group A while 122 with singleton pregnancy with BMI 20-30 kg/m2 were put in Group B. Blood pressure was recorded on each antenatal visit. Pregnancy Induced Hypertension was diagnosed when blood pressure was >140/90 mmHg checked on two occasions 4 -6 hours apart or a diastolic B.P >110 mmHg. Results: Age range of patients was from 25 to 35 years with mean age 29.910±3.00 years in Group A while 29.762±2.91 years in Group B. Mean Gestational age was 30.336±5.83 wks in Group A and 29.557±3.66 wks in Group B, while mean BMI was 32.762±2.61 in group A and 26.065±1.75 in group B. Pregnancy Induced Hypertension was seen 36.1% in group A as compare to 6.6% in group B (P 0.000)(RRR=450%). Conclusion: Dealing an antenatal obese patient is challenging in field of obstetrics because of associated complications especially Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH). Pre-pregnancy counseling and adopotion of strategies to reduce weight is utmost important. Practitioners should provide awareness before conception to achieve target weight and during antenatal period to allow supervised optimum weight gain. Keywords: Raised BMI , Obesity, Pregnancy Induced Hypertension