The purpose of this prospective study was to determine the effect of calcium supplementation in the incidence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia) in nulliparous and high risk women. 300 pregnant women in the 24th week of gestation at the beginning of the study were entered into a double-blind randomized trial. 143 of them who had a positive roll-over test and hypocalciuria at the 28-32nd week of gestation were enrolled for the study. Subjects were assigned to receive 2 g per day of elemental calcium (52 women) or placebo (61 women) from the 28-32nd week of pregnancy until delivery. Results showed that 11.4% of calcium-treated subjects developed gestational hypertension, compared to 31.2% of the placebo group. The rate of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy was also higher in the placebo group (35.6% vs 11.4%, p<0.01).

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