DOES ANTENATAL CARE IN DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES PREVENT ECLAMPSIA - A RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS AT KING-EDWARD-VIII-HOSPITAL, DURBAN, SOUTH-AFRICA

Objective: Assess the quality of antenatal care in eclamptic patients. Methods: The medical records of all eclamptic patients in 1993 were r eviewed. The place of booking for antenatal care, frequency of attenda nce, and failure in treatment of disorders in pregnancy related to the maternal and fetal outcome were studied retrospectively. Results: 176 of 251 eclamptic women had some form of antenatal care; 33.8% attende d only once or twice and substandard care was identified in 27.8%. The number of maternal and fetal deaths was twice as high in unbooked as in booked patients. Conclusions: Further improvement of antenatal serv ice may help to decrease the maternal and fetal mortality but it canno t prevent all eclamptic seizures. Future studies should pay attention to the early prediction of eclampsia and provide patients ''at risk'' with closer antenatal surveillance.