Pre-eclampsia/eclampsia: a profile from Pumwani Maternity Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya
Bansal, Y.P.
East African Medical Journal 62(10): 691-698
1985
ISSN/ISBN: 0012-835X PMID: 4092623 Document Number: 204956
A total of 23,084 deliveries were analyzed for 1 year. There was an overall incidence of 3.7% cases of preeclampsia with an overall predominance in primigravidas. There were 564 cases of mild preeclampsia with maximum occurrence in para 1-4, 260 cases of moderate preeclampsia with peak incidence in primigravidas, and 31 cases of severe preeclampsia also with peak incidence in primigravidas. The maximum occurrence in primigravidas in all forms of preeclampsia was in the age group 16-21 years of age. Almost 22.6% of those babies born to preeclamptic mothers weighed less than 2500 g whereas in 600 control normal uncomplicated pregnancies, only 4.67% of the babies were of that weight. 5.23% of the babies born from preeclamptic mothers were stillborn whereas the rate of stillbirth was nil in the 600 controls. 26.16% of the babies born of preeclamptic mothers had an Apgar score of less than 8, whereas only 8% of the 600 controls had an Apgar of less than 8. It was further analyzed that the birthweight of the babies and of the Apgar were inversely proportional to the degree of severity of preeclampsia in the mother. Also, the rate of stillbirths was directly proportional to the degree of severity of preeclampsia.