Background: There is an increasing trend of pregnancy complications in the Philippines. However, these are not well documented due to the lack of a national database.

Aims: This study describes the prevalence of hypertension and lipid abnormalities among Filipino pregnant women, which result to complications during pregnancy.

Methods: Multi-stage stratified random sampling was employed in the National Nutrition Survey and 6,166 pregnant women were included in the study. Demographic data was gathered through an interview questionnaire. Blood samples were drawn to determine fasting blood sugar (FBS), cholesterol, HDL and LDL, and triglycerides levels.

Results: One in ten pregnant women (n=661) showed signs of pregnancy complications. High risk pregnancies were identified, ranging from heart disease (2.9%), gestational diabetes (3.2%), asthma (3.51%) and goiter (4.12%). Prevalence of pregnancy-induced hypertension is 18.26%. Dyslipidemia is high among sample population with a prevalence of 39.54% (n=376). Results showed that patients with hypertension are twice more likely to have pregnancy complications than those with normal BP (OR:1.95, CI 0.47, 6.08).

Conclusions: Based on the data, there is a high prevalence of pregnancy complications in the Philippines which is associated with having hypertension and lipid abnormalities. Health policies should be made to cater to the early detection of disease in pregnant women and widespread campaign for affordable prenatal check-ups.

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ISTH Congress Abstracts - https://abstracts.isth.org/abstract/pregnancy-complications-among-filipino-women/