REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS It remains unclear whether antihypertensive drug therapy for mild-moderate hypertension during pregnancy is worthwhile
BACKGROUND Mild-moderate hypertension during pregnancy is common .
Antihypertensive drugs are often used in the belief that lowering blood pressure will prevent progression to more severe disease , and thereby improve outcome .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of antihypertensive drug treatments for women with mild to moderate hypertension during pregnancy .
Hypertension during pregnancy, with and without specific hypotensive treatment. II. The growth and development of the infant in the first year of life.
The  growth and development of three groups of infants were prospect ively assessed from birth to 12 mth . In two groups the mothers had been hypertensive before the 28th wk of gestation ; one group was r and omly allocated to specific hypotensive therapy , the other group was allocated to no specific treatment . The third group was a sample of the hospital population . General health , and the incidence of sight and hearing problems did not differ . Infants in the treated hypertensive group had had more perinatal problems , and there was an excess of infants with relatively small heads for their gestational age at birth . At 6 mth their heads were still smaller than the hospital sample , but by the age of 1 yr the difference was no longer present . The neurological status of infants in the untreated hypertensive group was less favourable in the neonatal period , and there was still an excess of infants in this group rated question able on neurological assessment at the age of 12 mth . In both hypertensive groups there was an excess of infants with delayed fine-motor function at 6 mth , and in the untreated group there was an excess with delayed gross-motor function at 12 mth compared with the hospital sample . Our varied findings draw attention to the dangers of assessing the effects of different pregnancy conditions in terms of neonatal mortality and morbidity alone . Our date indicate that follow-up should extend for longer than 12 mth when the effects of adverse pregnancy factors and their management are under consideration . Further evaluation will be made when these children are 4 yr old
REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS It remains unclear whether antihypertensive drug therapy for mild-moderate hypertension during pregnancy is worthwhile
BACKGROUND Mild-moderate hypertension during pregnancy is common .
Antihypertensive drugs are often used in the belief that lowering blood pressure will prevent progression to more severe disease , and thereby improve outcome .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of antihypertensive drug treatments for women with mild to moderate hypertension during pregnancy .