BACKGROUND: Pre-eclampsia presents significant management problems for every obstetrician. While the cause remains obscure, calcium deficiency is thought to be implicated. OBJECTIVE: To compare serum calcium levels in pre-eclamptic and normotensive pregnant women in JUTH. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study of pre-eclamptics as cases and normotensive pregnant women as controls. METHODOLOGY: A total of 50 pre-eclamptic and 50 normal pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic of JUTH were enrolled for the study. Blood samples of the women were collected and analysed for serum calcium. The variables were compared using the analysis of variance. A P-value < 0.05 was considered significant.