A new study recently showed that more than one in every two young women aged 20 to 44 years old who gave birth in 2019 in the United States had poor heart health before getting pregnant.
As indicated in a EurekAlert! report, poor heart health is putting expectant mothers and their babies at risk, with heart disease that causes more than one in every four pregnancy-related deaths.
On Valentine's Day, a new study by Northwestern Medicine spotlighted a significant yet overlooked matter of the heart, optimizing an individual's cardiovascular health before she gets pregnant.
According to Northwestern Medicine physician Dr. Sadiya Khan, the senior study author and assistant professor of medicine in cardiology and epidemiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, as women, "We tend to think about the baby's health," once a woman gets pregnant.
However, what so many women do not realize is the very first thing they can do for both their and their babies' protection, and that's to get their heart in shape before even conceiving.
Factors Involved in Poor Heart Health
The study published in the American Heart Association's peer-reviewed flagship journal called Circulation is a part of a themed issue for the "Go Red for Women Campaign" that the AHA developed in 2004 to highlight awareness about heart ailment risks in women.
The researchers found that more than 50 percent of the women in the study had at least a single factor for poor heart health, including overweight or obesity, diabetes, or hypertension prior to pregnancy. This new research also found being overweight or obese was the common reason for poor health before getting pregnant.
Internal medicine specialist and a Feinberg instructor Dr. Natalie Cameron said women with healthy hearts before pregnancy is less likely to suffer from pregnancy complications and are "most likely to deliver a healthy baby."
A physician at Northwestern Medicine, Dr. Cameron, added that optimizing heart health before and during pregnancy can stop the development of heart disease years after. She also explained that clinicians could play a vital role in examining and optimizing heart health before pregnancy.
A Decline in Healthy Heart
The researcher compared data by geographical region, and even as the healthy heart was declining across the nation, they found geographical differences.
As specified in a similar Mirage News report, the percentage of women who had healthy hearts was lower at 38.1 percent in the South and 38.8 percent in Midwest states, compared with the 42.2 percent in the West and 43.6 percent in Northeast.
There were differences among states, ranging from below one-third of women in Mississippi at 31.2 percent having good heart health before pregnancy to almost half at 47.2 percent in Utah, known as the best US state. Khan explained the geographic pattern observed in the new study are, unfortunately, quite similar to what they saw for heart disease.
Before and During Pregnancy
Pregnancy is frequently described as a window to future heart health, and taking the opportunity to control the prenatal period to improve maternal heart health is crucial, Khan said.
The physician also said there is also a need to focus on improving cardiovascular health throughout young adulthood as almost half of pregnancies are said to be "unplanned." She added that there is a need to emphasize heart health across the life span.
Scientists have urged women to consult a doctor or other health care providers before they get pregnant to take active steps to keep a healthy lifestyle prior to and during pregnancy.
This involves staying active physically, having a healthy diet rich in vegetables, whole grains, and plant-based proteins, avoiding tobacco to lessen the risks of being overweight, developing diabetes, or having high blood pressure.
Related information about heart health and pregnancy is shown on WGN News' YouTube video below:
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Check out more news and information on Pregnancy in Science Times.
