Treating Hypertension During Pregnancy: Benefits Seem to Outweigh Risks

Almost 10% of pregnancies are affected by hypertension, yet many clinicians remain reluctant to prescribe antihypertensives during pregnancy. To evaluate the effects of “less-tight” (diastolic target, 100 mm Hg) versus “tight” (diastolic target, 85 mm Hg) blood pressure (BP) control during pregnancy, researchers conducted an open-label multicenter trial in which 987 pregnant women were randomly assigned to either target. Participants had nonsevere, nonproteinuric preexisting hypertension or gestational hypertension (diastolic BP, 90–105 mm Hg without medication or 85–105 mm Hg with medication) and singleton pregnancies (gestation, 14 weeks 0 days to 33 weeks 6 days).

In both groups, labetalol was the most commonly used antihypertensive, but …