Treatment of arterial hypertension in pregnant women

Abstract

In the treatment of arterial hypertension in pregnancy still there are no agreed and widely approved standards to be followed. Influence of the therapy on both the mother and the child altogether with a lack of big randomized trials lead to conclusion that the optimal solution is a cooperation between the gynecologists, obstetricians and specialists in hypertension based on the sum of their experience. Antihypertensives used in pregnancy are methyldopa, labetalol, β-blockers, calcium channel blockers and hydralazine. Among them only methyldopa can be used safely during the whole pregnancy period which was confirmed by the long-term observations. In mild hypertension in pregnancy the pharmacological treatment may not be necessary providing that sufficient control of state of both the mother and the child is secured.