Gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, and eclampsia increases risk of neurologic conditions, suggests study

A new study published in the Journal of American Medical Association found that in the years after a first pregnancy, there is a markedly increased risk for neurologic conditions like migraine or epilepsy in the mothers with gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, or eclampsia.

It is unknown if the pregnancy issues (preeclampsia, prenatal hypertension, and eclampsia) are linked to a higher chance of developing neurological diseases months or years after giving birth. Therefore, Therese Friis and her colleagues carried out this study to investigate if new-onset headache, migraine, sleep problem, epilepsy, or mental weariness within months to years after giving birth are linked to gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, and eclampsia.

A total of 659,188 primiparous women with singleton pregnancies between 2005 and 2018 were identified through the Swedish Medical Birth Register. The women with a screening of chronic hypertension or a prepregnancy neurological disorder were excluded and the final study population included 648 385 women with the data analyses in 2023.

This register-based cohort study identified exposures in the Swedish Medical Birth Register from 2005 to 2018 and followed up using the National Patient Register, which included diagnoses from specialized inpatient and outpatient care for 42 days after delivery until the first event, emigration, death, or the end of the follow-up period. A composite neurological consequence of headache, migraine, epilepsy, sleep problem, or mental exhaustion was the main result.