Study on Foetal Outcome in Pre-eclamptic Mother

Pre-eclampsia or pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) re-named as gestational hypertension is one of the important causes of maternal death in developing countries like Bangladesh. The foetal outcome is also very unsatisfactory and disappointing in pre-eclamptic mothers. Considering this view, the objective of this study was to assess the foetal outcome in pre-eclamptic mothers and also to identify the factors influencing the outcome. This was a cross sectional study conducted among the pregnant mothers admitted into Gynaecology and Obstetrics Department of Shaheed Suhrawardi Hospital, Dhaka, with specific signs and symptoms of pre-eclampsia during the period from January 2002 to December 2003. A total of 100 pre-eclamptic mothers were studied. Bivariate analysis revealed that a statistically significant association was present between complicated preeclampsia (p 0.05). Analysis also found that poor foetal outcome was significantly associated with haemoglobin level less than 10 gm%, gestational age and mode of delivery (p<0.01). Analysis of relative risk indicated that the abnormal foetal outcome was 7.1 times higher in complicated pre-eclamptic mothers than only pre-eclamptic mothers (p<0.001, 95% CI=2.598-19.957). (J Bangladesh Coll Phys Surg 2007; 25 : 57-61)