Neonatal outcomes in pregnancies with preeclampsia or gestational hypertension and in normotensive pregnancies that delivered at 35, 36, or 37 weeks of gestation.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare neonatal outcomes of pregnancies with preeclampsia or gestational hypertension with those of normotensive pregnancies that delivered at 35, 36, or 37 weeks of gestation separately.

STUDY DESIGN: Secondary analysis of neonatal outcomes by week of delivery between 35 and 37 weeks 6 days of gestation to 4293 nulliparous women who were enrolled in a multicenter National Institute for Child Health and Human Development study. Outcomes included the percentage of neonatal intensive care unit admission, duration of neonatal hospitalization, and neonatal complications.

RESULTS: As compared with normotensive pregnancies, hypertensive pregnancies that delivered at 35 and 36 weeks of gestation had higher rates of small for gestational age births (17.9% vs 1.7% [P < .05] and 33.3% vs 12.2% [P < .01], respectively) and neonatal intensive care unit admission (57.1% vs 34.5% [P < .05] and 33.3% vs 10.7% [P < .001]). The rate of neonatal intensive care unit admission (25.6% vs 8.7%; P < .001) and duration of neonatal stay (3.9 vs 2.0 days; P < .001) were greater in hypertensive pregnancies that delivered at 37 weeks of gestation. These differences were observed largely in women whose condition required labor induction, regardless of the severity of the hypertensive disease.

CONCLUSION: Pregnancies with preeclampsia or gestational hypertension that delivered between 35 and 37 weeks of gestation had higher rates of neonatal intensive care unit admission, small for gestational age, and longer neonatal stay than normotensive pregnancies, regardless of the severity of the hypertensive disease.