Final report of study on hypertension during pregnancy: the effects of specific treatment on the growth and development of the children

195 (97.5%) children born to hypertensive women participating in a trial of methyldopa treatment during pregnancy were followed from birth and were extensively examined at the age of 7 1/2 years. The frequency of problems with health, physical or mental handicap, sight, hearing, and behaviour was the same in children of treated and untreated women. Sons of the untreated women were heavier and taller than those of treated women, as were their mothers. Among children of women who entered the trial between 16 and 20 weeks' gestation, sons of untreated women had larger heads than sons of treated women, but there was no difference in mean intelligence quotients. There were no significant differences between the children in the treated and untreated groups in standing and supine blood pressures, or fourteen tests of ability. Methyldopa therefore seems safe to use in pregnancy and is probably preferable to other drugs from the point of view of the neonate and child.