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 .
Randomised controlled comparative study of methyldopa and oxprenolol in treatment of hypertension in pregnancy.
One hundred pregnant women with hypertension ( defined as diastolic blood pressure at or above 95 mm Hg ) were allocated at r and om to treatment with methyldopa or oxprenolol and were compared with nonhypertensive controls matched according to parity and gestation at delivery . The patients were also stratified into those entering the study early ( before 32 weeks ' gestation ) and those entering late ( after 32 weeks ' gestation ) . Although there were no differences in diastolic blood pressure between the hypertensive groups before or during treatment , in the early entry group the systolic blood pressure at entry of those allocated to oxprenolol was significantly higher than that of those receiving methyldopa ; this difference remained throughout the treatment period . Also in the early entry group further increments of drug treatment were required to control blood pressure of patients receiving oxprenolol than in those receiving methyldopa . The eventual fetal outcome for all patients treated with methyldopa was the same as that for those treated with oxprenolol ;  birth weight , placental weight , head circumference , and Apgar score were not significantly different and there were no stillbirths in either group
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 .