Abstract

Introduction: Hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (HDP) is a common and very severe medical disorder specific to pregnancy. The aetiology of the condition is unknown, but it is more commonly seen in primigravida and grandmuiltpara women, in association with multiple pregnancies and pre-existing medical problem such as essential hypertension, renal disease, diabetes mellitus and obesity.
Objective: To assess maternal outcome of pregnant mothers with hypertensive disorder of pregnancy from June 20 to November 20 at hospitals in Wolaita zone Southern Ethiopia.
Method: Institutional based cross sectional study design was conducted. All pregnant mothers with hypertensive disorder of pregnancy were included. Regular supervision and follow up was made. Data was entered into Epi info version 7 by investigators and was transported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariate analysis was used to identify factors associated with maternal outcome.
Results: A total of 225 study subjects were included in the study of which majority of them were multiparous. Preeclampsia and eclampsia were the most common causes of maternal insults either during pregnancy or at the time of deliver. Being nulliparous was about three times more likely to develop poor maternal outcome when compared to being multiparous (AOR 3.45 (95% CI (0.043-15.152)).
Conclusion and recommendations: Hypertensive disorder of pregnancy is associated with increased risk of maternal adverse outcome. Therefore, close follow up of all laboring mother and provision of antihypertensive agent as per protocol is very important to control the impact of high blood pressure.

Keywords: Hypertension; Maternal outcome; Pregnancy