Background: The eye is considered as the mirror for the human body, and its examination can reflect many signs of systemic diseases. Pregnancy is associated with many physiological changes in the eyes that should be considered by all caring physicians to optimize the medical care for the pregnant lady.
Objectives: This study aimed to determine the current status of the ophthalmic care during pregnancy at the biggest referral hospital in our city; King Fahad Hospital (KFH) at Al Baha, Saudi Arabia, by screening the available records at the obstetric unit, and to monitor the ophthalmic consultations from the obstetricians to the ophthalmologists.
Materials and Methods: The data were obtained from the records of the antenatal care unit. The data included the records of the pregnant ladies who had their antenatal care and delivery at KFH over 1 year time the period from (January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2015). All these records were reviewed and studied critically in a retrospective manner. The descriptive study including the mean and standard deviation was done by SPSS version 17.
Results: The total numbers of pregnancies seen in the antenatal clinics were 5325, among them 214 patients were diabetic (26 were of type 1 diabetes and 188 were gestational diabetes mellitus) and 174 were hypertensive (44 patients with chronic hypertension [HTN] and 130 patients were gestational induced HTN). No single consultation or ophthalmic care documentations founded in the studied group files.
Conclusion: In hospitals where obstetric care is provided, strong collaboration between obstetricians and ophthalmologist is mandatory to implement a clear protocol and guidelines for eye care during pregnancy.
Key words: Diabetes; Hypertension; Gestational Diabetes; Ophthalmological Care; Antenatal Care
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