Beta-blockers appear to be no more effective and probably equally as safe .
It is unusual for women to change drugs due to side effects .
REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS Improvement in control of maternal blood pressure with use of beta-blockers would be worthwhile only if it were reflected in substantive benefits for mother and /or baby , and none have been clearly demonstrated .
Large r and omised trials are needed to determine whether antihypertensive therapy in general ( rather than beta-blocker therapy specifically ) results in greater benefit than risk , for treatment of mild-moderate pregnancy hypertension .
BACKGROUND Antihypertensives , such as beta-blockers , are used for pregnancy hypertension in the belief these will improve outcome for mother and baby .
OBJECTIVES To assess whether oral beta-blockers are better than placebo , or no beta-blocker , and have advantages over other antihypertensives , for women with mild to moderate pregnancy hypertension .
Propranolol in pregnancy three year prospective study.
We compared propranolol with methyldopa in a r and omized prospect i ve study of 28 women with pregnancy associated hypertension . Both drugs were equally effective in controlling maternal hypertension . There was no significant difference in the birthweights of the babies in each group . However one infant born to a mother receiving propranolol had symptomatic hypoglycaemia . The mean peak levels of propranolol , propranolol glucuronide , 4-hydroxypropranolol , and 4-hydroxypropranolol glucuronide were not significantly different in the first , second , third trimesters and at least 3 months post partum . The mean peak plasma level of naphthoxylactic acid however was significantly less in the third trimester compared with post partum levels . Propranolol and its metabolites were found to cross into breast milk with the maximum dose likely to be ingested by the infant as either propranolol or propranolol glucuronide being 7 micrograms of propranolol per 100 g of breast milk , being approximately 0.1 % of the maternal dose
Beta-blockers appear to be no more effective and probably equally as safe .
It is unusual for women to change drugs due to side effects .
REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS Improvement in control of maternal blood pressure with use of beta-blockers would be worthwhile only if it were reflected in substantive benefits for mother and /or baby , and none have been clearly demonstrated .
Large r and omised trials are needed to determine whether antihypertensive therapy in general ( rather than beta-blocker therapy specifically ) results in greater benefit than risk , for treatment of mild-moderate pregnancy hypertension .
BACKGROUND Antihypertensives , such as beta-blockers , are used for pregnancy hypertension in the belief these will improve outcome for mother and baby .
OBJECTIVES To assess whether oral beta-blockers are better than placebo , or no beta-blocker , and have advantages over other antihypertensives , for women with mild to moderate pregnancy hypertension .