Over Half Of American Women Have Poor Heart Health Prior To Pregnancy

Over Half Of American Women Have Poor Heart Health Prior To Pregnancy
Pregnancy puts more stress on the heart and circulatory system. But according to new research, over half of American women have poor heart health prior to getting pregnant, which increases their risk of adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes.

As per Mayo Clinic, the body’s blood volume increases between 30-50% during pregnancy in order to sustain the growing fetus. This requires the heart to pump more blood per minute, increasing heart rate. Moreover, labor and delivery also put additional stress on the body’s cardiovascular system.

Needless to say, having good heart health is important to ensure a healthy pregnancy and smooth delivery. However, this is a growing problem for women in the United States.

The new study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the American Heart Association (AHA). The researchers wanted to explore pre-pregnancy heart health on birth outcomes. To do so, they relief on research from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Natality Database. They considered data from over 14 million people who gave birth during the years 2016 to 2019.

All the female participants were between the ages of 20 to 44-years old, though 81.4% of them were between ages 20 to 34. Additionally, 52.7% were non-Hispanic white, 22.7% were Hispanic, and 14% were non-Hispanic Black.

The researchers defined optimal heart health as having a body mass index (BMI) between 18 and 24.9 as well as not being diagnosed with high blood pressure (hypertension) or diabetes.

In conclusion, they found that positive heart health declined over the three-year time period. While 43.5% of women who gave birth in 2016 were deemed to have optimal heart health, this decreased to 40.2% by 2019.

Moreover, older maternal age was connected to poorer heart health. By 2019, only 37.1% of the women with optimal heart health were between the ages of 40 to 44-years old.

The researchers determined that over half of the women were at risk for one form of heart disease prior to pregnancy. They identified being overweight or obese as the leading reason for poor heart health.

Interestingly, heart health varied by geographical region. The South and Midwest had the lowest rates, with only 38% of pregnant women from these regions having optimal heart health. Conversely, the West and Northeast had the most promising numbers, with 42% and 43% respectively of women having good heart health pre-pregnancy. It's believed that differences in socioeconomic status by region factor into these geographical differences.