Abstract          The present study was performed to evaluate the histological changes in placentae obtained from patients with history of pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) and compare them with placentae obtained from patients who had normal blood pressure in pregnancy. 100 placentae were obtained from the labour room and operating theatres of Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, Rewa. 50 placentae were from patients who had pregnancy induced hypertension (study group) and 50 were from normotensive pregnant women (control group). On comparison of histological examination of placentae obtained from hypertensive mothers with normal placentae, it was noted that in the former there was three times more incidence of syncytial knot areas, two times more incidence of fibrinoid necrosis, and cytotrophoblastic proliferation. Presence of areas of hyalinzed villi was six times more common in study group. The difference in histological examination of placenta was more significant if the patients had hypertension ≥ 140/100 mm Hg. This also correlated with the birth weight of babies born. The mean weight of babies born to hypertensive mothers was 1.97 kg while it was 2.68 kg in normotensive mothers. The study has shown that in moderate to severe hypertension there are a number of histological changes in the placenta which may be responsible for the occurrence of complications associated with it.