Pregnancy complications and what they mean for future health

Health concerns that came up in your pregnancy can have implications in terms of your long-term health and disease risk.  

We know that those who had complications such as hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, gestational diabetes, preterm birth, stillbirth, low birth weight infant, or placental abruption are at a higher risk of premature cardiovascular disease and stroke.  

The recommendations suggest any person with these complications in pregnancy should be screened with a complete cholesterol panel in the last postpartum period, blood sugar and blood pressure screening should likely be part of this as well. 

Many times these things are not screened until we’re in our 40s or 50s otherwise, potentially missing a concern for years.  While we don’t generally see a lot of cardiovascular disease or stroke until after 50 years old, cholesterol, blood sugar, or blood pressure concerns will be causing damage to the arteries increasing those risks significantly.  If there are concerns, medication should be considered sooner than it would be in populations who didn’t have those health risks in pregnancy. 

The testing is important, as are heart healthy behaviours including working towards eating a dietary pattern such as the Mediterranean-style diet, being active, avoiding tobacco consumption, keeping alcohol consumption moderate, and managing stress.

This is something that I never see being discussed when you have pregnancy complications, and the follow-up screening is seldom done.  Whether you had concerns in your pregnancy 1 year ago, or 10 years ago - it’s worth a conversation with your doctor or myself!