Gestational weight gain in pregnancies complicated by chronic hypertension treated with beta-blockers or calcium channel blockers versus unmedicated pregnancies: A retrospective cohort study from the PeriBank database.

This retrospective cohort study evaluated the association of antihypertensive medications with gestational weight gain (GWG). Specifically, we compared the frequency of excessive, expected, and insufficient GWG in pregnant people with a clinical diagnosis of chronic hypertension treated with beta-adrenergic blocking medications and calcium channel blockers. A large perinatal database was parsed for pregnancies affected by chronic hypertension using a Python algorithm. Pregnancies with risk factors affecting GWG were excluded to explore the primary variables: calcium channel blockers and beta-adrenergic receptor blockers. For each pregnancy, the recommended amount of gestational weight gain was calculated based on maternal BMI and gestational age at delivery. For each cohort (calcium channel blockers, beta-adrenergic receptor blockers, unmedicated), the outcome of GWG was deemed excessive, expected, or insufficient based on recommended gestational weight gain. Unmedicated pregnancies, on average, gained more weight than medicated pregnancies. The frequency of excessive, expected, and insufficient GWG across both medicated cohorts was similar. The cohort treated with beta-adrenergic receptor blockers showed a higher incidence of insufficient GWG compared to the unmedicated cohort. The cohort treated with calcium channel blockers did not differ significantly from the unmedicated cohort in any of the three GWG categories. Beta-adrenergic blockers were associated with lower birth weight when compared to unmedicated pregnancies, but not when compared to calcium channel blockers. Treatment with calcium channel blockers and beta-adrenergic receptor blockers were associated with similar GWG. Despite literature suggesting contrasting effects on weight control, this suggests an interchangeable relationship between these classes of medication in terms of GWG.