Calcium may cut severe pregnancy complications: study shows

Pregnant women taking calcium tablets are less likely to have severe complications of preeclampsia, a condition in which a woman's blood pressure rises dramatically, according to a new international study.

However, the extra calcium did not significantly reduce the number of women who got preeclampsia, according to Dr. Jose Villar of the World Health Organization, lead author of the study.

Reporting in the March issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the research team spread across the globe tracked the progress of 8,300 women selected for the study.