Maternal methyldopa treatment and neonatal blood pressure.

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Abstract
Methyldopa is widely used to treat hypertension in pregnancy. To determine if systolic blood pressure is lower in infants of mothers treated with methyldopa than in infants of the same birth weight whose mothers had not received hypotensive drugs, 24 such pregnant women and their offspring were studied. Results showed that full-term infants of mothers treated with methyldopa had a significantly reduced systolic blood pressure during the first 2 days after delivery. The duration of the decreased blood pressure was consistent with the slow elimination of the drug by the neonate. The mild reduction in blood pressure should not seriously compromise the babies.