Factors associated with pregnancy-induced hypertension

Abstract

This article reports the results of a correlational study that explored the association between the three factors of pregravid weight, prenatal weight gain at 28 weeks and maternal age, and the subsequent development of pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH). A significant relationship between low maternal age and PIH development was found. Further data analysis showed that PIH occurred significantly more often when the second trimester mean arterial pressure (MAP) did not drop to a level lower than the first trimester MAP. Clinically, emphasis should be placed on early detection of women at high risk for PIH development. Analysis of the MAP changes could prove to be a low-cost, effective and low-risk predictive test for PIH development.