Untitled - Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative - Memorial ...

22,774 births s t udied were 6 .1%, 2.3\, and 7 .9\ respectively.
When t h e unb ook ed emergenc y admissi ons seen in t he s t udy arc
considered, hyper t e ns ive d i sorders occurred i n 18 . 8 % of a ll
t he c a s es. The prop o r tions o f the vari o us hy pertensive
disor de rs in these un -booke d SUbjects were eclamps i a (27 .11;),
pre-eclampsia (34 .It) a nd postpartum hypertension (38 .8% l [8] .
The prevale nc e of asymptomatic post partum hypertension
r e ported t n another study in no rthe rn Ni g e r i a was a hig h 5 7\
of 260 Hau sa women who h a d no t been hypertensive during
pregnancy or l a b o u r ( 194]. In Ibadan, southern Nigeria, a much
lower i ncidence (18%) was r eper cee a mo ng the Yoruba [195 ] .
This l e vel i s s i mila r to t hos e reported i n the earl ier No r t h
American s t ud i e s ( 17 3 J •
In the northern Ni geria study too, 4 1 (87%) o f the 47
pre-ecl amptic s Ubjects fo llowed up remained hypertensive
during t heir p ue r pe rium [19 4] . The r isk for developing
postpar t um hy perte ns i on was also observed in t he study to be
h igher i n t he ve ry you ng and o ld and lenst i n subjects aged 15
to 29 y e a r s ( 194 J. Also found to be at h i ghe r risk we r e
mUltiparous women an d women with tw i n pr eg na nc i es ; t he 10 tw i n
pr egnan cie s observed in that s tudy all d e ve l oped pos t pa r t um
hyp e rten s i on [ 194 J.
No other r e po rts on post pa rtum hypertension i n Af ric a
ha ve been fo und f or r eview, bu t it is obvious from t he s e t wo
s tudies in Ni geria that significant variation can occur i n
6 '