Background:

Preeclampsia (PE) is a disease in pregnancy occurring after 20 weeks gestation with multiple genetic, immunologic and environmental causative factors. Obesity is a known risk factor for PE as well as cardiovascular disease

Objective:

To study the role of maternal BMI in first trimester as a marker of preeclampsia.

Methods:

A prospective study was carried out to evaluate the role of maternal BMI in preeclampsia. A total number of 200 women who met our selection criteria were included in the study.

Results:

Among the women in the study, PE was detected in 21 women with incidence of 10.5 %. PE was seen in 4 cases out of the 113 women with BMI of ≤25 with incidence of 4%. 11 cases were seen out of 72 women with BMI between 26 and 30 with incidence of 15%. 6 cases were seen out of 15 women with BMI above 30 with incidence of 40 %.

Conclusion:

Maternal obesity is an important risk factor for the development of PE and therefore pre–conceptional weight reduction and lifestyle modifications may help in decreasing the burden of the disease.