During pregnancy, a woman undergoes major bodily changes that include the heart. Do you know the amount of blood in a woman’s body increases by 30-40% in the first trimester? As a result, the amount of blood the heart pumps each minute also increases, so does the heart rate. Also, in some cases, blood pressure dips. It could be due to hormonal changes or blood rushing to the uterus. Hence, not just reproductive health, pregnancy has a major impact on a woman’s cardiac health also. Now, a new study has shed light on the importance of taking care of heart health before planning pregnancy.
About The Study
This Northwestern Medicine study draws attention to the importance of heart health care before planning pregnancy. It was published in the peer-reviewed journal ‘Circulation’ of the American Heart Association (AHA). The study is a part of AHA’s ‘Go Red for Women Campaign’, which it developed to bring attention to the heart health risks among women.
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Heart Health & Pregnancy: Study Findings
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This is what the study found out:
- Over 1 in 2 young women between the ages of 20 and 44 who got pregnant in the US in 2019 had poor heart health.
- Weight (being overweight or obese), diabetes, and high blood pressure are among the risk factors for heart diseases. Over half of the women who were part of the study had at least one of the risk factors for poor cardiovascular health.
- Among the risk factors, being overweight or obese was the most common risk factor for poor heart health, the study found out.
- Poor heart health of expecting mothers put both the woman and the baby at risk. Heart ailments accounted for one in four pregnancy-related deaths, it found out.
- The researchers witnessed a decline in heart health across the US. However, in some regions, viz south and Midwest, the decline was more than the other regions. Such variation was also witnessed across states. For example, in Mississippi, just a third of women had good heart health compared to nearly half in Utah.
What Did The Researchers Say?
The study authors said the following:
- “Get your heart in shape” before getting pregnant is Dr. Sadiya Khan’s advice to women. She was a senior author of this study and is an assistant professor of medicine in cardiology and epidemiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
- Women with good heart health are at a lesser risk of pregnancy complications and are likelier to deliver a healthy child, said lead author Dr. Natalie Cameron, a leading media house reported. Also, a woman must take care of her heart before and during pregnancy to prevent any cardiovascular diseases later in life, she added.
- Since most of the pregnancies are unplanned, the focus should be on optimizing heart health throughout early adulthood, said Dr. Cameron.
Hence, the scientists advised women to take good care of their heart health. They can do so by doing enough physical activity, eating balanced and nutritious food, avoiding tobacco, and managing stress.
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