الفهرس 
INTRODUCTION
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Abstract
Pregnancy-induced Hypertension (PIH) is a disorder that occurs only during pregnancy and the postpartum period and affects both the mother and the baby and is a significant cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality.
Toxemia has been called the disease of theories. Even now this remains a topic full of questions and theories. Hypotheses about toxemia have proposed causal roles for genetic and placental abnormalities, immunologic dysfunction, coagulation abnormalities, endothelial damage, endocrine abnormalities, generic factors and dietary factors.
There is a role for nutrition in the genesis of preeclampsia as the considerable evidence from observational and experimental studies link calcium intake and hypertension during pregnancy.
A hypothetical mechanism of action is that calcium supplementations reduce serum parathyroid hormone levels, which in turn reduces the intracellular calcium concentration in vascular smooth muscle cells, diminishing their responsiveness to pressure stimuli.
The general aim of the present work was to study the effect of calcium supplementation on the incidence of pregnancy induced hypertension; while the specific aims were to study the effect of calcium supplementation on levels of systolic and diastolic blood pressure in pregnant women, the incidence of preeclampsia and eclampsia and foetal outcome as measured by preterm delivery.
During a period of 18 months, a randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted in Moharem Bek Maternal and Child Health Center (MCH) in Alexandria
Using Epi- info version 6.4, the sample size was determined to be at least (307) based on incidence estimated of 15% of PIH, confidence limit of 95% and degree of precision 4. All healthy, normotensive pregnant females aged between 20-40years old and with low habitual calcium intake (<600 mg/ day), between 12-20 weeks of gestation, fulfilling the predetermined inclusion criteria were included in the study. The total sample size amounted to 310 pregnant women.
All female participants were interviewed to answer a pre-designed questionnaire. It included socioeconomic- demographic characteristics, obstetric history and family history for PIH. Clinical examination was conducted to asses the level of the funuds and as antenatal care. Blood pressure was measured according to the specified criteria. Laboratory test as urine analysis was done to examine the presence of proteinuria and hematuria and blood test for screening of GDM. Anthropometric measurement done included height, weight and mid upper arm circumference. Then body mass index was calculated, obesity was considered when BMI > 29. Dietary assessment was done by using 24 hours recall methods, and then dietary data analyzed using the Egyptian Food Composition Tables to get the average daily calcium intake.