Are obstetric intervention rates and pregnancy outcome worsened by gestational hypertension in Nigerian women managed at a tertiary hospital?

Abstract

Background: Pregnancy induced hypertension and it sequelae eclampsia are major causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality in developing countries. The aim of this study was to compare the obstetric intervention rates and maternal and fetal outcome in cases of gestational hypertension to that of normotensive women randomly selected from the general obstetric population in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria Methods: Selected measures of obstetric intervention rates and maternal and fetal outcomes in 215 cases of gestational hypertension were compared to that in 300 randomly selected low risk non cases from the general obstetric population. Univariate statistical analysis was done using the Fisher’s exact test. The 95% Confidence interval and Relative risk were also determined.
Results: Women with Gestational hypertension had statistically significant higher rates of induction of labour, instrumental delivery and prolonged hospital stay beyond 6 days compared to normotensive women. There were no significant differences in the measures of perinatal outcome. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that prompt management of cases of gestational hypertension in a tertiary hospital is associated with reduced risk of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality.

Key words: Obstetric; intervention; outcome; Gestational hypertension