Metformin could prolong gestation by a week and improve fetal and maternal outcomes in women with preterm pre-eclampsia, an Australian and South African study suggests.

The randomised, double-blind trial provides proof of concept that treatment for the hypertensive disorder of pregnancy is possible, the researchers say.

“It is the first time that a treatment given to [women] with preterm pre-eclampsia to keep them pregnant for a week longer might have worked,” said first author Associate Professor Catherine Cluver, from Stellenbosch University in South Africa.

“It could mean that preterm pre-eclampsia can now be treated and that we can slow disease progression right down.”