Maternal hypertensive diseases negatively affect offspring motor development

ObjectiveHypertension in pregnancy and preeclampsia have been linked to poor outcomes in cognitive, mental and psychomotor development; however, few longitudinal studies have researched their effect on offspring motor development, particularly in late childhood and adolescence. The purpose of this study was to determine if maternal hypertensive diseases during pregnancy are a risk factor for compromised motor development at 10, 14, and 17 years.Study designLongitudinal cohort study using data from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort Study (Raine).Main outcome measureOffspring (n = 2868) were classified by their maternal blood pressure profiles during pregnancy: normotension (n = 2133), hypertension (n = 626) and preeclampsia (n = 109). Offspring motor development, at 10, 14, and 17 years was measured by the Neuromuscular Developmental Index (NDI) of the McCarron Assessment of Motor Development (MAND).MethodsLinear mixed models were used to compare outcomes between pregnancy groups.ResultsOffspring from pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia had poorer motor outcomes at all ages than offspring from either normotensive mothers (p ⩽ 0.001) or those with hypertension (p = 0.002).ConclusionHypertensive diseases during pregnancy, in particular preeclampsia, have long term and possibly permanent consequences for motor development of offspring.