AWARENESS AND PREVENTION OF GESTATIONAL HYPERTENSION AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN

1.1 Introduction

According to Cedars-sinai (2021), Gestational hypertension often starts in the second half of pregnancy. It normally goes away after your baby is born. Gestational hypertension is high blood pressure in pregnancy. It occurs in about 3 in 50 pregnancies. This condition is different from chronic hypertension. Chronic hypertension happens when a woman has high blood pressure before she gets pregnant (Cedars-sinai, 2021).

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of the Study

Hypertensive disorders represent one of the most common problems of pregnancy and lead to increased maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. Hypertension may be pre-existent, may be induced by the pregnancy or both types may co-occur, and their influence on the outcome of the pregnancy is different depending on the type of disorder concerned. Further, hypertension in the presence of proteinuria indicates more severe maternal and foetal consequences (Sibai et al., 1983 and Gleicher et al., 1983).

The causes of pregnancy-induced hypertension and the risk factors associated with it are largely unknown. Apart from nulliparity and previous history of preeclampsia in multiparas, few other risks are universally agreed upon (Chesley, 1978). There are many attributes that have been reported to be related to preeclampsia: maternal age, familial aggregation, race, smoking, socioeconomic level, diet, season and climate, quite apart from the geographical area (Davies et al., 1983).

The incidence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy varies in the range of 1-35% around the world (Chesley, 1978). There are several causes of the differences, including variations in the definitions of the disorders and the methods of diagnosis. Also, many reports are based on hospital populations, which may be influenced by the special nature of the health services and do not reflect the situation in the whole population of a defined geographical area. In Nigeria, it is estimated that 5-10% of pregnancies are complicated by hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (HDP) and it results in more admissions in the antenatal period than any other disorder (Myers et al., 2002). Hypertensive disorder in pregnancy is one of the leading cause of maternal mortality in this centre (Audu et al., 2002).

High blood pressure occurs when one’s blood move through the arteries at a higher speed than normal. It is also known that for now there is no cure for high blood pressure. Papadakis A, Macphere J. (2008). Over-weight here will be described or rather defined based on a calculation called “Body mass index” (BMI). According to this formular, one is regarded as over-weight if his BMI is greater than 25. Mancia G. (2007).

The number of people with high blood pressure is in the increase and research has shown that this condition is heightened by overweight of the patient. That is to say, the more one increases in weight, the higher the tendency of him or her becoming hypertensive. Mori TA (2007).

The seriousness of this adult illness (high blood pressure) is not just that it can lead to more serious illness or complications, raises the risk of stroke, kidney failure, heart disease and heart attack. The matter is made worse with the existence of too much weight or fat in the body as this tends to make the condition severe. It is the duty of stakeholders in health sectors to keep the adult folk aware of the implication of over-weight by providing them with accurate, timely and up to date information regarding this health condition. It is also the duty of health personnel to warn and educate adults who are more prone to high blood pressure, about the dangers of over-weight in the management of high blood pressure. This awareness is expected to affect the feeding habit of these people, since it has been observed that poor feeding (that is, poor combination of the classes of food, not necessarily the quantity) is one of the causes of over-weight (Sacks F.M, 2008).

It is believed in many quarters that some of the findings above and many more are the reasons for the recent step-up in action in the area of high blood pressure management. Hence, many Nigerians knowing the cost of managing such diseases that tends to originate from high blood pressure heightened by over-weight seem to have woken to the call on “healthy and fit”. This research therefore, would not have been timelier than this. As a matter of fact, it is this situation on ground that necessitated this research work.

Therefore, in Oba Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Shomolu L.G.A., Lagos State where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the awareness and prevention of Gestational hypertension among pregnant women attending Oba PHC.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation reveals the problems of the awareness and prevention of Gestational hypertension among pregnant women attending Oba PHC research work:

1. A lot of pregnant women have died as a result of Gestational hypertension.
2. High blood pressure can cause hardening and thickening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), which can lead to a heart attack, stroke or other complications.
3. Heart failure: To pump blood against the higher pressure in your vessels, the heart has to work harder. This causes the walls of the heart's pumping chamber to thicken (left ventricular hypertrophy). Eventually, the thickened muscle may have a hard time pumping enough blood to meet your body's needs, which can lead to heart failure.
4. Gestational hypertension among pregnant women can affect the blood vessels. It may decrease blood flow in liver, kidneys, brain, uterus, and placenta in pregnant women.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to investigate the awareness and prevention of Gestational hypertension among pregnant women attending Oba PHC. In achieving this aim, the specific objectives were set out as follows:

1. To examine the effect of blood pressure on gestational hypertension among pregnant women attending Oba Primary Health Care (PHC),
2. To estimate the regression model between the variables based on the sample collected,
3. To test the significance of the coefficient of regression,
4. To determine the extent and direction of the relationship between the variables; weight and gestational hypertension (High blood pressure).

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1.5 Research Questions

The following are the questions of the research work;

• What are the causes of hypertension in patients?
• Is there any relationship between Gestational hypertension and pregnant woman?
• Does weight of patient constitutes to high blood pressure?
• Is there any preventive measure laid down for gestational hypertensive pregnant women?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

H0: There is negative impact of Gestational hypertension among pregnant woman

H1: There is positive impact of Gestational hypertension among pregnant woman

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1.7 Scope of Study

This project work is designed to cover the statistical model of effects and preventive measures of gestational hypertension among pregnant woman in Primary Health Care (PHC) in Shomolu L.G.A., Lagos State The data used is a secondary data collected from the patient of the Hospital.

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1.8 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this institution to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
3. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
4. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
5. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.9 Significance of Study

This project work will help individuals to predict their blood pressure given their weight and will equally help them to know what to do when their blood pressure (Hypertension) rises.

Besides, the study will serve as reference material for subsequent researcher in the field or related topics.