More Women are Getting a Heart Attack During Childbirth or Pregnancy

Get Yourself Completely Checked Before Conceiving for Ailment Indications

Decades back, pregnancy and childbirth were not a stressful affair as witnessed nowadays in the form of innumerable scans, routine check-ups, supplements, nutrients and pills which makes even an outsider feel insecure and unsure about a safe pregnancy term. Despite medical advancements and treatment care options, the number of women having heart attack during pregnancy, childbirth or during two months after delivery is steadily rising. 

A woman rarely cares about her health after marriage as she is busy engaged in taking care of her family members. Never once does she sit back, relax and pause to think about her dreams, wishes and wants. Women mostly spend time thinking about the growing fetus, its health status and requirements but rarely spend time worrying about their own hearts. People surrounding her advise the pregnant woman to eat healthy food, stay active and keep herself fit for the wellness of both, mommy and baby. The mom-to-be is pampered and made to eat every delicacy available, overpowered with love and affection and enquired about her health status, even by strangers.

A study from the New York University School of Medicine found an increased risk of suffering a heart attack among pregnant women. The research analyzed data of more than 49 million birth records in hospitals and found that:

1. 1,061 heart attacks occurred during labor and delivery
2. 922 women were hospitalized before delivery due to heart attack
3. 2,390 heart attacks occurred during the two-month recovery period following delivery
4. Rates of heart attack increased from 7.1 in 2002 to 9.5 in 2014 for every 1,00,000 pregnancies
5. 1 of every 12,000 patients suffered from a heart attack after getting hospitalized for delivery or soon after childbirth
6. 1 of every 20 women who suffered from a heart attack during pregnancy succumbed to death during their hospital stay
   
   

The researchers are still amazed with the 25% increase in heart attack rates during pregnancy despite significant improvements in cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment options. Also, heart attacks in young women are generally rare and researchers are still unclear what might be contributing to such increase in heart attack problems during and after birth.

Ideal Causes Behind Heart Attack

1. There are various changes taking place inside a woman’s body when she is pregnant and this might make her more vulnerable to heart disease. Her blood levels increase and the huge hormonal changes puts more stress on blood vessels. Pregnancy by itself can bring about stress for the woman (physically as well as mentally) and all these together can induce heart complications. Protect yourself from health complications by following a healthy diet plan as suggested by RDNs at www.firsteatrightcom. 
2. The study group also feels that the age of pregnancy is a vital factor for such increase in heart attack rates among pregnant women. Many women these days choose to marry late and get into family life even more later. Any woman aged between 35 to 39 is five times likelier to have a heart attack during pregnancy than a woman in her 20s. A woman in her 40s is 10 times likelier to suffer from a heart attack than someone in her 20s. 
3. We know that obesity and diabetes are serious risk factors of heart attacks. A pregnant woman is forced to eat ample food, advised to take plenty of rest and requested to take care of herself during the pregnancy period to deliver a chubby baby. When such is the case, the chances of obesity and diabetes are multi-folds and these increase the risk of heart attacks.
4. Pregnancy increases maternal blood volume, cardiac output and heart rate. Arteries dilate to accommodate the growing fetus and any risk factors can affect dilation. This, along with an increased heart rate, a cardiac output of 40-50% higher than normal and the added weight from the fetus can also create stress on the heart during pregnancy. 
   
   

All these establish the fact that women who have risk factors for pregnancy are at the highest risk of heart attack, but this does not exclude any woman who is healthy and these ladies can also suffer from a heart attack.
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Plan Your Pregnancy
Before pregnancy, it is advisable that every woman checks for risk factors such as obesity, malnutrition, tobacco or drug use or metabolic syndrome which would enable the physician to start her on treatments for correcting the disease. If a woman has no risk factors still she must ensure that her heart remains healthy during pregnancy and following birth. More than half the women population are overweight and almost 50% suffer from cardiovascular deaths. In such circumstances it becomes the duty of every woman planning for pregnancy to take charge of her heart health before conceiving.