Obstetric Outcomes of Pregnant Women with Eclampsia: A study in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Usually, eclampsia is the commonest cause of convulsions in pregnancy next being epilepsy. Moreover, in developing countries like Bangladesh, perinatal condition in eclampsia is a major concern of infant injury. So, proper treatment planning and initiatives against eclampsia can save many lives by decreasing the total mortality and morbidity of child and mother. The aim of our study was to assess the perinatal outcomes of pregnant women with eclampsia in a tertiary care hospital in Bangladesh. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Rangpur Medical College, Rangpur, Bangladesh during the period from January 2020 to December 2020. Proper written consents form all the participants were obtained and the ethical committee of the mentioned hospital had approved the study before starting the intervention. In total 78 pregnant women with eclampsia were selected as the study population. A predesigned questioner was used in collecting patient data. All data were processed, analyzed and disseminated by using MS Office and SPSS version 23 as per need. Result: As final outcome we observed, there was not any case of multiple pregnancy or maternal mortality. Among total 78 fetus, cases of stillbirth (SB), early neonatal death (END), perinatal death (END + SB) and death after birth were found as 8%, 12%, 19% and 4% respectively. So, total case of neonatal death was found 35% whereas the survival rate was 65%. As neonatal complication among survived babies, frequencies of jaundice, septicemia and respiratory distress were found in 27%, 24% and 18% babies respectively who were noticeable. As maternal complication, cases of ICU admission, acute kidney injury and haemorrhagic stroke were found as 4%, 3% and 1% respectively. Conclusion: Stillbirth may be considered as the main component and prematurity may be considered as another important cause of perinatal mortality in obstetric management of delivery in pregnant mothers with eclampsia. Early referral of eclamptic patients, early resuscitative measures as well as good neonatal care can improve perinatal outcomes in such cases.