Did you know that health issues during pregnancy — even if they disappear after delivery — can signal trouble for your heart?
February is American Heart Month. Each year, we observe this holiday to bring awareness that heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the U.S. — even though it is mostly preventable.
Heart health is also especially important to people who are pregnant. This is because your body experiences many changes during pregnancy. These changes put extra stress on your body and cause your heart to work harder than usual to pump blood to you and your baby. Sometimes, this extra stress causes 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).
Similarly, pregnancy can also expose risks to your heart health that were there before you got pregnant. According to new research, Pregnancy-related heart attacks – especially in the period after childbirth – are on the rise in women who are 30 or older. For this reason, it is important for all pregnant people to:
- Understand your risk.
- Develop heart-healthy habits.
- Watch for warning signs of a problem during and after pregnancy.
For more information and tools to help you Take Action Toward Better Heart Health go to the Page 4!
