OBJECTIVES: to assess perinatal effects of pregnancy hypertensive syndromes. METHODS: hospital-based observational and retrospective study of a tertiary Brazilian center, from January, 1996 to October, 2003. Twelve thousand and two hundred and seventy two (12.272) pregnancies met the inclusion criteria. Two types of hypertension were considered: gestational hypertension (GH) and chronic hypertension (CH). Results of the study demonstrated that newborns of mothers with gestational hypertension and chronic hypertension were small for gestational age (SGA), had low Apgar score in the 1º and 5º minutes, neonatal infection, meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS), prematurity and respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). RESULTS: 1259 (10.26%) had hypertension, 344 (2.80%) were classified as GH, 915 (7.45%) as CH and 11.013 (89.74%) had no hypertension. GH was risk factor for SGA, low Apgar score in the first and fifth minutes, neonatal infection and prematurity, but not for MAS and RDS. CH was a risk factor for SGA, low Apgar score in the first minute, MAS, prematurity and RDS, but not for low Apgar score in the fifth minute and neonatal infection. When comparing the relative risk between CH and GH an increased risk for prematurity in CH was determined. CONCLUSIONS: our data suggest that CH and GH increased the risks for the outcomes studied. An increased risk for prematurity in CH was noted.
Perinatal care; Hypertension; Pre-eclâmpsia; Pregnancy, high-risk
