BACKGROUND: Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-specific complication that significantly contributes to maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially in developing countries such as Nigeria, where medical interventions may be ineffective due to late presentation of cases. The potential contribution of disorders of lipid metabolism to the pathogenesis of preeclampsia has been observed in many studies. OBJECTIVES: This study compared the serum lipid profile of pre-eclamptic women and those of the healthy pregnant women. It also investigated the correlation of lipid levels with the severity of the disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was a cross sectional analytical study involving 70 preeclamptic and 70 healthy pregnant women at the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia. The two groups were controlled for age, parity, and gestational age. Fasting Serum Total cholesterol (TC), Triglyceride (TG), High density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), Low density lipoproteincholesterol (LDL-C) and Very low density lipoprotein (VLDL-C) were assayed using standard methods. The data collected was analysed using IBM SPSS 21. Descriptive statistics was done by calculating relevant means and standard deviations, while categorical variables were presented in proportions. Test of significance of association were measured using chi-squared test for categorical variables and t-test for comparison of means.