Relationship Between Incidence of Hyaline Membrane Disease and Maternal Hypertension During Pregnancy

Abstract

There have been controversies over the eiTect of hypertension in pregnancy on the incidence of type I neonatal respiratory distress syndrome or hyaline membrane disease (HMD). We investigated the relationship between the incidence of HMD and maternal hypertension during pregnancy in 91 infants at 34 weeks gestation or less. This retrospective cross sectional study included all live born babies between May 1, 1994 and April 30, 1995 at Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital, Bandung. Maternal hypertension during pregnancy was diagnosed in 38 mothers of91 infants studied. The incidence of HMD (5%) in the maternal hypertension during pregnancy group was significantly lower than the 62% in the normotensive group (p<0.01). There was a negative correlation between the occurence of HMD and hypertension during pregnancy. We conclude that the risk of developing HMD in infants born to hypertensive mothers is significantly lower than those born to normotensive mothers.