Heart rate and blood pressure in infants of pre-eclamptic mothers during the first hour of life.

Neonatal heart rate (HR) and arterial blood pressure (BP) were recorded continuously for the 1st hour of life in term newborn infants of normotensive (control group) and pre-eclamptic (study group) primiparous mothers. Infants were matched for gestational age, birth weight, method of delivery, and Apgar scores. In infants of pre-eclamptic mothers, the HR was significantly lower for the 1st 50 min of life, and their mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) was significantly higher during the 1st 20 min of life.