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 .
Obstetric aspects of the use in pregnancy-associated hypertension of the beta-adrenoceptor antagonist atenolol.
The obstetric implication s of the use of the beta-adrenoceptor antagonist atenolol have been evaluated in a prospect i ve , r and omized , double-blind , and placebo-controlled study involving 120 women with pregnancy-associated hypertension . The clinical interpretation of antenatal and intrapartum cardiotocographs was uninfluenced by atenolol .  Human placental lactogen concentration fell in the atenolol group , but this was not an indicator of subsequent fetal distress . Other obstetric indices , such as urinary estriol excretion , were the same in both groups . Spontaneous premature labor occurred in five women receiving placebo but in none who received atenolol . Together with previously reported findings on pregnancy outcome , our study leads us to conclude that beta-blockers such as atenolol can appropriately be used in the management of hypertension during pregnancy
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 .