Fetal Influences on Neonatal Blood Pressure

Abstract

To identify if there is a relationship between some newborn variables (baby's sex, Apgar score, postnatal age, birth weight, birth length, and head circumference) and blood pressure (BP) in healthy term newborns. A cross-sectional hospital-based study was carried out to determine BP levels and a cutoff point for hypertension in healthy term newborns. Afterward, a comparative study was conducted to identify fetal factors that could influence BP in this specific group. According to the cutoff point (95th percentile), 34 infants were considered to be hypertensive. During the univariate analyses, infants with higher BP were heavier, longer, and had larger head circumference. After the multivariate analyses, birth weight was the only variable associated with higher BP in babies. Other newborn variables analyzed (baby's sex, Apgar score, and postnatal age) showed no influence on the babies' BP. There is a positive relationship between birth weight and BP in healthy term newborns.