RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy accounts for maternal morbidity and mortality globally. AIM AND OBJECTIVES: We conducted this study to know the demographic profile and risk factors pertaining to lifestyle and behavioral aspects for hypertension among the pregnant women. METHODOLOGY: It was a hospital-based cross-sectional study. During the routine antenatal checkups, those antenatal cases found hypertensive, were included in the study after taking written consent. A semi-structured questionnaire was prepared and pretested before conducting the actual study. Statistical analysis was done by SPSS (version 17) software. Participants' sociodemographic characteristics were described using descriptive statistics. Results are presented using graphs, tables, mean, percentages, standard deviation, frequency, and significance. RESULTS: We observed that most of the study subjects 110 (48.9%) were educated up to secondary level followed by primary level 47 (20.9%) while 25 (11.1%) of the subjects were illiterate. We also found that 113 (50.2%) of the study subjects consumed additional salt in their diet and 57 (25.3%) of the study subjects had a history of intake of visible fat. Among 225 study subjects, 174 (77.3%) did not consume tobacco in any form. Among the 225 study subjects, 142 (60.9%) did not have a family history of hypertension. It was observed that 121 (53.77%) subjects had normal BMI while 16 (7.11%) subjects were underweight while 51 (22.6%) subjects were pre-obese. A total of 32 (14.22%) subjects were obese class 1 followed by 5 (2.22%) subjects who were obese class 2. It was observed that among 225 study subjects, 155 (68.9%) subjects had mild hypertension while 70 (31.1%) subjects had severe hypertension. DISCUSSION: The scarcity of data regarding hypertension in pregnancy in low and middle income countries despite this, a comparatively high prevalence of hypertension in pregnancy was observed due to behavioral risk factors, which is mostly preventable at the primary care level. RECOMMENDATIONS: It is possible to prevent PIH by eliminating behavioral risk factors through education and counseling to the pregnant ladies, at the primary care level by family physicians or primary care physicians which will reduce maternal mortality to a great extent.