Objective:

To investigate whether prior cesarean delivery is associated with occurrence of pregnancy hypertension.

Methods:

A prospective case-control study in consenting eligible consecutive 475 pregnancies with prior cesarean delivery and age- and parity-matched 475 pregnancies with previous vaginal delivery. Results were subjected to multiple logistical regression analysis.

Results:

Body mass index, birth interval, and neonatal birth weight were comparable between the study groups. In women with prior cesarean delivery, pregnancy-related hypertension was significantly higher [15.9% vs. 6.7% in those with prior vaginal delivery, p<0.05; odds ratio (OR), 2.6; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.707–4.072]. A higher proportion of women were found to develop hypertension by 32 weeks of pregnancy. In both the study groups, the development of pregnancy-related hypertension was found to be higher in the age group of 20–25 years, birth interval of >18 months, second gravidas, and in the gestation period between 32 and 36 weeks. Number of women with severe disease was higher in both the groups.

Conclusion:

Pregnancy-related hypertension is more common in women with prior cesarean delivery, and it occurs at earlier gestation weeks than in those without prior cesarean delivery. In multigravidas, severe forms of the disease are more common.

Keywords: Multigravida, pregnancy hypertension, previous cesarean delivery