Blood pressure in a pregnant, rural Guatemalan population: results from a quality improvement database

Between 5 – 10% of pregnancies are estimated to be complicated by hypertensive disease.1 In Latin America, hypertension is estimated to be the maternal cause of death in 22.1% of fatalities in 2014.2 Surprisingly, epidemiologic data on hypertension in pregnancy is limited because of the heterogeneity of def initions.3 Prior studies carried out in Guatemala reported less than a 1% rate of pre-eclampsia in one setting, and a 8.3% rate of overall hypertensive disorders in another cohort.4,5 Because hypertension in pregnancy is a leading cause of death in Latin America and published data from Guatemala is sparse and variable, we are reporting the prevalence of hypertension in our antenatal care program in a rural Guatemalan population.

Source: European Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology - January 28, 2021 Category: OBGYN Authors: Margo S. Harrison, Angela Fought, Saskia Bunge Montes, Claudia Rivera, Amy Nacht, Andrea Jimenez Zambrano, Antonio Bolanos, Edwin Asturias, Stephen Berman, Gretchen Heinrichs Tags: Short communication Source Type: research