nutritional status of pregnant women and urine calcium-to-creatinine ratio during 24th-28th weeks of pregnancy and their relationship with the incidence of hypertensive disorders during pregnancy

Background: considering that gestational hypertensionmayhave severe effects on the mother and fetus, this study was conducted to examine the nutritional status of pregnant women and urine calcium-to-creatinine ratio during 24th - 28th weeks of pregnancy and their relationship with the incidence of hypertensive disorders during pregnancy. methods: this prospective longitudinal study recruited 538 pregnant women attending prenatal clinics in tehran, iran in 2011. a food frequency questionnaire (ffq) was completed for all mothers at the baseline for nutritional intake assessment, and a random urine sample was taken between 24th - 28th weeks of pregnancy to calculate the ca/cr-ratio. hypertensive disorders were classified into two groups: a, gestational hypertension in case of detecting a blood pressure≥ 140/90; and b, preeclampsia in case of increased proteinuria. data were analyzed using spss v.16 and n4 software programs. results: in this study, 14 (6.2%) pregnant women had hypertensive disorders during pregnancy. the desired nutritional status and ca/cr-ratio had no significant relationship with hypertensive disorders during pregnancy. the regression test was used to investigate the variables affecting hypertensive disorders, which showed the significant relationship of pre-pregnancy bmi and mother’s age with hypertensive disorders during pregnancy (p≤0.05). conclusions: in this study, the incidence of hypertensive disorders had no relationship with the ca/cr-ratio and the nutritional status of the pregnant women. however, since more than 80% of the participants had undesirable nutrition, mothers’ nutrition in the first half of pregnancy is necessary to be under observed.