Neonatal transient respiratory depression after maternal urapidil infusion for hypertension

Urapidil is a potent antihypertensive drug that has been in clinical use for more than 20 years. It has been proven to be an effective and well-tolerated antihypertensive drug during pregnancy, but clinical experiences with urapidil have been described in only a limited number of studies. There have also been only limited observations on the (side-)effects of urapidil on the neonate. We describe here a case of postnatal transient respiratory depression following maternal administration of urapidil. We suggest that the fetal and neonatal effects of more recently implemented antihypertensive drugs, such as urapidil, should be included in a prospective evaluation of antihypertensive treatment of women during pregnancy. Infants of mothers who received urapidil should be carefully watched in the immediate postnatal phase as urapidil may still exert some significant effects on the neonate.