Familial aggregation of blood pressures of newborn infants and their mother

Abstract

The blood pressures and pulse rates of 257 normal full-term infants and their mothers were measured two to four days after birth. Birthweight was correlated with systolic (P=.038), but not with diastolic blood pressure. Infants who were asleep had significantly lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure than infants who were awake (P less than .001). Sex, body length, and feedings did not appear to influence infant's blood pressure nor did the anesthesia given to the mothers. Maternal diastolic pressure correlated with infant's diastolic pressure (regression coefficient, .128) (P less than .01), whereas for systolic pressure the regression coefficient between maternal and infant pressure was .085 (P=NS). The aggregation between the diastolic blood pressures of infants and mothers was not influenced by birthweight, age of the mother, or medication administered to the mother. The pulse rates of black infants were significantly higher than those of white infants (P less than .002). There was no correlation between the pulse rates and blood pressures in infants.