Tema, Dr. Aba Folson, a Cardiologist at the International Maritime Hospital (IMaH), Tema, has revealed that pregnancy-induced hypertension, when not treated, affects the growth and survival of the unborn baby.

She said women with hypertension have a higher risk of giving birth to preterm babies and a lower birth weight, which makes the children prone to other temporal and long-term complications, including death.

She said hypertension was a leading cause of maternal, and neonatal mortality and morbidity, which usually occurs during the late stages of pregnancy because of physiological changes in pregnancy.

Dr Folson said this at the weekly 'Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility! A Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office initiative aimed at promoting health-related communication and providing a platform for health information dissemination to influence personal health choices through improved health literacy

Dr Folson was speaking on the topic, 'Measure blood pressure accurately, control it, and leave longer,' adding that although there were some women who might have hypertension disappear after delivery, others still experienced it.

She called on such people not to stop going for treatments and taking prescribed medications.

She cautioned pregnant women to start antenatal care to manage any unforeseen disorder as soon as it is detected, stressing that failure to have the health professionals manage it could lead to the disease reoccurring in the future.

'Pregnancy-induced hypertension must be diagnosed; it is diagnosed when the woman presents herself for antenatal care; it will be mandatorily checked; other tests will be done,' she stated.

Dr Folson cautioned pregnant women to adopt good eating habits and do regular exercise to help manage the disorder, as it could not be prevented.

She called on husbands and family members to offer their support to both pregnant women and nursing mothers, as stress could contribute to hypertension.

Source: Ghana News Agency