Prepregnancy and Early Pregnancy Calcium Supplementation Among Women at High Risk of Pre-eclampsia: A Multicentre, Double-blind, Randomised, Placebo-Controlled Trial

(Abstracted from Lancet2019;393:330–339)Hypertension complicates 5% of all pregnancies and 11% of first pregnancies, and half of these cases are associated with preeclampsia (gestational hypertension plus proteinuria). Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are the direct cause of death of approximately 30,000 women annually, or approximately 14% of maternal deaths, most of which occur in low-income countries.