Many women with heart problems fear that pregnancy will automatically lead to complications, but this is not always the case – the majority of women with heart conditions such as high blood pressure, arrhythmia or heart murmurs will have perfectly healthy children and a problem-free labour. Cardiac issues shouldn’t put you off becoming pregnant, as with the right monitoring and care it shouldn’t cause any problems.
Planning ahead is the best way to ensure that there are no problems during your pregnancy or the labour itself. This involves effective birth control before your condition is controlled properly, and a carefully planned pregnancy following that stage. Once you are pregnant, you should seek the expertise of a team of medical professionals who have experience of dealing with cardiac conditions. This should involve a consultation before the birth where you can be tested for your cardiac function and discuss the risks involved so that you’re prepared.
During pregnancy, your heart goes through a number of changes such as an increase in beats per minute and a higher rate of cardiac output. This can lead to palpitations which can lead to harmless but common cardiac symptoms. This condition is specific to pregnancy and is known as peripartum cardiomuopathy and is a type of heart failure which can occur in the early postpartum stage or in the last month of pregnancy. In addition, many women fear having a heart attack during pregnancy but these are actually very rare in reality. The future could lead to more cases though, due to more women suffering from obesity and diabetes. Likewise, preeclampsia is a potentially serious condition which is linked to high blood pressure and fluid retention – it can signify that the individual may suffer from heart disease later in life if they have preeclampsia during pregnancy.
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