Prevalence, Seasonal variation and Feto-Maternal outcomes of Severe Pre- Eclampsia/Eclampsia at a Tertiary Hospital in North central Nigeria.

Background Severe pre-eclampsia-eclampsia is a type of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy associated with increased maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. Methods This was a retrospective study. The records of women admitted and managed with severe pre-eclampsia-eclampsia at the Federal Medical Centre Keffi from 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2022 were retrieved from the health information management unit, labour ward, post natal ward and theatre of the hospital. Relevant data such as; patients’ age, parity, education, booking status, gestational age at delivery, diagnosis, complications, mode of delivery, birth weight, Apgar scores, month of presentation and final outcome (alive or dead) were imputed into a proforma. The data were collated and analyzed using IBM SPSS 25. Descriptive and inferential statistics were computed for all data and results presented in simple tables and charts. Results There were 4,050 deliveries conducted of which 123 women had severe pre-eclampsia/eclampsia, resulting in a prevalence of 3.8%. Of these, 80 (65%) had severe pre-eclampsia and 43 (35%) had eclampsia. The mean age of the women was 29.88 ± 6.71 years and mean gestational age was 36 ± 3.483 weeks. There were 7 maternal deaths. giving a case fatality rate of 5.7%. The mean birth weight ± SD was 2.46 ± 0.860kg and stillborn rate was 26.8%. Severe pre-eclampsia/eclampsia was more common during the wet season. Conclusions The prevalence of pre-eclampsia/eclampsia was high in this study. with associated increased maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. Urgent interventions are required to address this significant health concern