THURSDAY, April 13 (HealthDay News) -- Hypertensive disorders (HPD) in pregnancy commonly recur, but the recurrence is not necessarily in the same type of disorder, according to a study in the April issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Sigrun Hjartardottir, M.D., of Landspitali University Hospital in Reykjavik, Iceland, and colleagues analyzed data from 896 pregnant women who had experienced hypertensive disorders in their first pregnancy, including gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, eclampsia and chronic hypertension.
Depending on the first pregnancy disorder, there was a 58 percent to 94 percent risk of recurrence in the second pregnancy. In women with gestational hypertension, being overweight almost doubled the odds of recurrence, and weight gain more than doubled the odds. Hypertension at or before 34 weeks' gestation almost doubled the recurrence risk for women with gestational hypertension and increased the risk of preeclampsia almost four-fold.
"The whole spectrum of HPD occurred in the second pregnancy regardless of the initial type, which reflects the complex relationship between the different types," the authors concluded. "If the woman is overweight she should be offered advice on lifestyle adjustment. In the second pregnancy, increased surveillance would be appropriate."
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