PREGNANCY-INDUCED HYPERTENSION, ANTIHYPERTENSIVE DRUGS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF FETAL BEHAVIORAL STATES

In 21 pregnancies complicated by pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) which was treated by antihypertensive drugs (labetalol, nifedipine), f etal behavioural recordings (quiet state, CIF; active state, C2F; no c oincidence, NOC) and Doppler measurements of blood how velocity in the umbilical artery (UA) (resistance index, RI) were made on two occasio ns (27-32 and 33-36 weeks of gestation). Data were compared to those o f a control group of normally grown fetuses (n = 96); in 15 cases we w ere able to match fetuses from the study group for age(+/-1 week) and weight (+/-150 g) at birth with fetales from a control group. It was t he aim of this study to investigate if there are disturbances in the d evelopment of fetal behavioural states and if possible disturbances ar e due to poor fetal growth or to antihypertensive therapy. Our results show that in PIH treated by antihypertensive drugs, there are disturb ances' in the development of fetal behavioural states with higher perc entages of NOC and C1F, lower percentages of C2F, and higher UA RI val ues. These disturbances are mainly due to coexisting placental impairm ent and poor fetal growth rather than to nifedipine or labetalol thera py, although these drugs may cause some redistribution of states. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.