Gestational hypertension develops after which point in pregnancy?

• A. 12 weeks
• B. After the 20th week
• C. 28 weeks
• D. At delivery

Answer: (B)

Gestational hypertension is defined as new-onset high blood pressure that appears after 20 weeks of gestation in a woman who was previously normotensive, and it occurs without accompanying proteinuria or severe features of preeclampsia at that time. That 20-week cutoff is what distinguishes gestational hypertension from chronic hypertension (which would be present before 20 weeks) and from postpartum hypertension (which occurs after delivery). So any onset after the 20th week fits this diagnosis—the exact week beyond that (for example, 28 weeks) is still considered gestational hypertension as long as the hypertension is new and the typical features aren’t present.