Antihypertensive Drugs and Perinatal Outcomes in Hypertensive Women Attending a Specialized Tertiary Hospital

OBJECTIVES: We sought to identify the most commonly used antihypertensive medications in pregnant women and to determine the impact of these medications on perinatal (maternal and fetal) outcomes. METHODS: The medical records of 484 hypertensive pregnant women who attended a tertiary university hospital during the study period were retrospectively evaluated for eligibility. Singleton pregnancies of women on antihypertensive medications and who delivered in the hospital were included in the study. RESULTS: A total of 210 women (mean age of 32.4±5.6 years and mean body mass index of 34.0±8.1 kg/m(2)) were eligible for inclusion in the study. The most prevalent subtype of hypertension was preeclampsia (41.4%). Low birth weight (LBW), preterm delivery (PTD), intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), small for gestational age (SGA), respiratory distress syndrome, and neonatal care unit admissions were significantly higher in women with preeclampsia than in the women with other types of hypertension. Labetalol was the most commonly prescribed antihypertensive drug. There were 101 (48.1%) women on combined therapy. LBW, PTD, IUGR, SGA, respiratory distress syndrome, absent end diastolic flow, neonatal care unit admission, preeclampsia, and high dependency unit admissions of mothers were significantly higher in the women who received combined therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Labetalol was the most commonly prescribed antihypertensive drug in this cohort, and women on combined antihypertensive medications had significantly higher maternal and fetal complications. A larger prospective study including hypertensive women with or without antihypertensive medications in more than one center is needed to evaluate the effect of these drugs on perinatal outcomes.