The risk of high blood pressure affected during pregnancy (gestational hypertension) is higher in pregnant women result from infertility treatments compared with the pregnancy results from spontaneous conception.

Also increases the risk of preeclampsia in women who are pregnant through the help, according to a study published in the medical journal Fertility and Sterility. Preeclampsia is a condition that can affect many body systems, characterized by high blood pressure and the presence of protein in the urine (which indicates interference kidney). The condition occurs in 8% of pregnancies and is responsible for as much as 15% of the 500,000 deaths associated with pregnancy in the world every year.

Dr. Allen A. Mitchell , Boston University, and colleagues studied more than 5,000 women who gave birth between 1998 and 2006. Within 6 months after birth, the woman and sociodemography interviewed about medical factors, including high blood pressure during pregnancy, preeclampsia and infertility treatments. Overall 9.3% of women reported having high blood pressure during pregnancy and 2.6% reported having preeclampsia.

Women who have undergone fertility treatments have higher blood pressure levels during pregnancy is higher than those who did not undergo fertility treatments, respectively 15.8% and 8.9%. Women who have more than one fetus is also more likely to be stricken with high blood pressure during pregnancy compared with those who have only one fetus (23% versus 1.7%).

Risk of hypertension during pregnancy on pregnancy outcome of fertility treatments is 90 times higher than the risk of spontaneous pregnancy. Higher risk fell to 60% after accounting for the number of previous pregnancies and body mass index during pregnancy. Further analysis, which highlights the impact of more than one fetus, reducing the risk to be only 30% higher.

Risk of preeclampsia among women who undergo fertility treatments is two times higher compared with women who did not undergo fertility treatments as a rough analysis conducted, Mitchell and colleagues said. After adjusting their data with other risk factors, the risk is only 60% higher and the inclusion of more than one fetus changing risk factors to be only 20%.

The researchers concluded that most of the increased risk of high blood pressure during pregnancy and preeclampsia in pregnancies result from fertility treatment is explained by more frequent pregnancies occurred with more than one fetus.