Maternal and fetal outcome in women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: the impact of prenatal care.

Background: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are the most important cause of maternal and fetal death and pregnancy complications in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to characterize the epidemiological profile of women with HDP admitted to a Brazilian tertiary reference hospital, and to evaluate maternal and fetal outcome in each HDP and the impact of prenatal care on the maternal and fetal outcome.

Methods: HDP in 1501 women were classified according to usual definitions as chronic hypertension (n = 564), pre-eclampsia (n = 579), eclampsia (n = 74) and pre-eclampsia/eclampsia superimposed on chronic hypertension (n = 284).