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 .
[Maternal effects and perinatal safety of labetalol in the treatment of hypertension in pregnancy. Comparison with methyldopa in a randomized cooperative trial].
Labetalol was compared with methyldopa in a r and omised trial involving 176 pregnant women with mild to moderate hypertension .  Effective blood pressure control ( diastolic pressure below 86 mmHg ) was obtained in a similar proportion of mothers given labetalol or methyldopa , but the addition of a complementary treatment to achieve control was less frequently needed in the labetalol than in the methyldopa group ( 12/91 vs 22/85 p less than 0.05 ) . Side effects were mild and result ed in discontinuation of the r and omised treatment in 1 mother given labetalol . Pregnancy was terminated by intrauterine death in 4 mothers given methyldopa , and one neonate born to a patient allocated to labetalol died at day 1 . The average birthweight and the proportion of premature delivery or of small for gestational age newborns were similar in both treatment groups . Heart rate , blood pressure , respiratory rate and blood glucose did not differ between infants born to the mothers of the labetalol and the methyldopa groups , irrespective of gestational age at birth or birthweight . Blood pressure control is more frequently achieved in hypertensive pregnancies with labetalol than with methyldopa as a first line treatment . Labetalol is safe to the fetus and newborn and might offer a better prevention of intrauterine death than methyldopa
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 .