Impact of Body Mass Index and Height on Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy

Introduction: Hypertension is common cause of morbidity and mortality in pregnant females. Hence, prevention and management of preeclampsia is necessity. Maternal Body Mass Index (BMI) and preeclampsia are inter-related. South Asian females are prone to obesity. Aim: To find relation among maternal BMI, height and gestational hypertension or preeclampsia, and to assess the severity of hypertensive disorders during pregnancy and maternal and foetal outcomes Materials and Methods: This prospective observational cohort study was conducted in Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital (tertiary care hospital), Delhi, India, from September 2013 to December 2014. The study involved pregnant women with gestational age less than 14 weeks. After registration, body weight and height of all the subjects were measured during the first prenatal visit and recorded. Blood pressure was measured at every antenatal visit. The subjects were followed-up once monthly till 32 weeks, every 15 days till 36 weeks and weekly thereafter till delivery. To compare the baseline parameters between the two groups of patients, Chi-square test was used for categorical variables. A two-sided p-value