Hypertension, Maternal Weight Gain and Birthheight

Abstract

Data was collected from the obstetric records of 1371 primigravidae, a total series between 1976 and 1977 for Aberdeen City District. Only cases with complete information were analysed (947). The influence of maternal stature upon standardised birthweight has been confirmed, but this is different for those with proteinuric pre-eclampsia. Change in maternal weight over the pregnancy has an effect on birthweight as expected. Of the blood pressure variables studied, diastolic blood pressure at week 20 has a significantly negative effect on birthweight where all cases are taken together, but the major effect appears with cases of proteinuric pre-eclampsia where the change in diastolic blood pressure over pregnancy has a substantial effect on birthweight. The problem of analysis using both the change in weight and blood pressure over different intervals of pregnancy in predicting either pre-eclampsia or birthweight are discussed.