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		Search Text: Home/Education and Awareness/The Heart Truth®/< Back ToListen to Your Heart: Women and Heart Disease/Heart Health and Pregnancy
  A pregnant woman making a heart shape with her hands on her belly
      Heart Health and Pregnancy
        
            During pregnancy, your heart is working harder than usual to pump blood to you and your baby. Sometimes, the extra stress exposes risks to your heart health that were there before you got pregnant. The stress can also cause new problems to emerge during pregnancy, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or preeclampsia (high blood pressure with signs of damage to another organ system such as the kidneys). These problems can happen to you during pregnancy, in labor and delivery -- even up to a year after your child is born.
      
                  Pregnancy and Your Heart Health fact sheet
                          Last updated November 22, 2023
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Risk Factors for Pregnancy-Related Heart Problems

            Each year, about 700 women in the U.S. die from pregnancy-related problems, and more than 50,000 women have life-threatening pregnancy complications. Heart and blood vessel conditions, such as coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and cardiomyopathy, are leading causes. The good news is that most of these problems are preventable, meaning you can take steps before, during, and after pregnancy to help your heart health.

Heart Healthy and Pregnancy stat 

Pregnancy-related heart problems can happen to any woman, but your risk may be higher if you:

Are 40 or older
	Are****African American, American Indian, or Alaska Native
	Are overweight or have obesity
	Have heart problems
	Get little physical activity
	Use opioids or other illegal drugs
	Drink alcohol
	Smoke
	Have existing heart disease, such as congenital heart disease or heart valve disease
	Have an existing health condition, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, blood clotting disorders, sleep apnea, anemia, or polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)Read more about high blood pressure in pregnancy.
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What You Can Do

            If you are pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant, you can take these steps to help manage your heart health:

**Understand your risk.** Know your body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels. *The Heart Truth®* has information and tools to help you take action toward better heart health.
	**Talk to your doctor about your risk**and how it affects this pregnancy and your risk in future pregnancies. Tell your doctor about any medicines you are taking and keep all your medical appointments during and after pregnancy.
	**If you’re not yet pregnant, develop heart-healthy habits now** to set yourself up for a healthy pregnancy. This includes choosing healthy foods, getting regular physical activity, aiming for a healthy weight, managing stress, getting enough good quality sleep, and quitting smoking if you smoke.
	**Watch for warning signs of a problem during and after pregnancy.**Some warning signs of a heart problem during or after pregnancy are a worsening headache, overwhelming tiredness, dizziness, trouble breathing, chest or belly pain, swelling, or nausea. If you feel like something is wrong, call your doctor or seek medical care right away. Learn about other warning signs from the CDC.
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Protecting Your Heart After Your Child Is Born

            Heart and blood vessel problems in pregnancy can affect your heart health years and even decades after your child is born. For example, women who have gestational diabetes or any of the pregnancy-related high blood pressure disorders, such as gestational high blood pressure or preeclampsia, have a higher long-term risk of heart and blood vessel problems.

The first year after giving birth is an especially important time to work with your doctor. Some serious problems due to pregnancy can occur up to a year after delivery. Your doctor can also give you advice on developing heart-healthy habits for life.
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Questions for Your Doctor

            Seeing the doctor regularly before and during your pregnancy is important for managing your risks. By taking regular height, weight, and blood pressure measurements, for example, your doctor can see how your body is adjusting to pregnancy’s changes. Take the opportunity to tell your doctor about any changes or symptoms you have noticed. Here are questions to discuss with your doctor.

Are my blood pressure numbers normal? Find additional questions to ask about your blood pressure.
	Am I at risk for developing problems during or after pregnancy?
	If I am at risk, will this affect my prenatal care or birthing plan?
	What can I do to lower my risks for problems during pregnancy?
	Is there a test I can have to rule out a serious problem?
	At what point should I consider going to the emergency room or calling 9-1-1?
	If I have health problems during pregnancy, will that affect my baby, and how does that affect my heart health in the future?
	What should I be aware of after delivery?
	Will any heart health problems during this pregnancy affect future pregnancies?
    
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A doctor with her hands on a pregnant woman's belly, both wearing masks
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NHLBI Research on Maternal Health

            Researchers supported by the NHLBI have raised awareness about the dangers of heart and blood vessel problems in pregnancy and their long-term impact on women’s health. We also regularly bring together experts to help us set priorities for research on topics such as preeclampsia, lack of sleep as a risk factor for disease, and disparities in women’s health during pregnancy. In particular, eliminating racial disparities in pregnancy-related illness and death is a priority. Our research is also exploring ways that heart and blood vessel problems can be prevented and treated in the future.
      
Find out how the NHLBI is advancing women’s health research
    
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Pregnant woman with a mask on holding her belly and looking down at it
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Related Resources

            Learn more about pregnancy and heart health:

High Blood Pressure During Pregnancy (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC])
	What Works Fact Sheet: Pregnancy Health (Community Preventive Services Task Force)
	Pregnancy and Stroke: Are You at Risk? (CDC)
	Advancing Women's Heart Health(NHLBI)
	Hear Her Campaign(CDC)
	Urgent Maternal Warning Signs
	Maternal Health (Office on Women’s Health)
	Maternal Mortality Workshop(NHLBI)
	Preeclampsia and Eclampsia(*Eunice Kennedy Shriver*National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD])
	Pregnancy for Every Body(NICHD)
	What can I do to promote a healthy pregnancy? (NICHD)
	Move Your Way®During and After Pregnancy (HHS Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion)
  
  
  Related News
                Tuesday, October 10Pregnancy complications increase and unmask short- and long-term cardiovascular risk for people with obesity
                    
                                                NIH-supported research provides broader understanding of how cardiovascular disease risk manifests following pregnancy Having obesity before and during early pregnancy appears to be a strong indicator of risk for developing future cardiovascular disease and was significantly linked with adverse outcomes during pregnancy such as high blood pressure...
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                            October 02, 2023Data from wearables suggest preterm birth linked with lack of sleep, activity during pregnancy
                    
                                                Data from wearable devices link changes in typical sleep and activity patterns during pregnancy to a risk of premature delivery, according to an NHLBI-funded study.
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                            May 30, 2023Pregnancy complications linked to earlier onset of stroke
                    
                                                Study underscores the importance of cardiovascular disease risk-monitoring and prevention for people who have had at least one pregnancy affected by complications.
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                            July 25, 2023U.S. pregnancy-related deaths on the rise
                    
                                                The number of people who died from pregnancy-related complications has increased throughout the past two decades. American Indian, Alaska Native, and Black individuals have been disproportionately affected.
                                                            Read more
                            January 28, 2022Pregnancy is like the ultimate stress test: what new prospective parents need to know about heart health
                    
                                                New research shows that by tending to their cardiovascular health now, patients can get big benefits during pregnancy and beyond It’s important to keep hearts healthy at every life stage, but how people take care of themselves leading up to and during pregnancy can affect their cardiovascular health for decades. Victoria Pemberton , a nurse and...
                                                            Read more
                            March 08, 2021Hypertensive pregnancy increases a woman’s risk of early death
                    
                                                High blood pressure, an all-too-common feature of pregnancy, appears to carry risks for a woman’s cardiovascular health months or years after giving birth, and even shorten her life span.
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