Medical records of pregnant patients between January 1997 and December 2002 at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu (in southwestern Nigeria) were retrieved and analyzed. The obstetrics department of the hospital had its full complement of specialist obstetricians about late 1996. Patients who were labeled as hypertensive and satisfied the inclusion criteria as stated [...]

INTRODUCTION Hypertension (HTN) is the most common non-communicable disease in Nigeria. The crude prevalence rate for females is 11.2%, while the age-adjusted rate is 9.3%. HTN is also the most common medical disorder of pregnancy worldwide. It has been estimated that 5-10% of all pregnancies are complicated by HTN.