Two women with the same pregnancy complication may face very different risks of premature cardiovascular death
Previous research has shown that women who experience complications during pregnancy face roughly twice the risk of dying prematurely from cardiovascular disease.
Two women experiencing the same pregnancy complication may face vastly different risks of premature cardiovascular death, according to a new study. Women whose first pregnancy was complicated and who had no further pregnancies had the highest risk, around three times that of women with two or more complication-free pregnancies. Those with complications in both their first and subsequent pregnancies faced a 2.4-fold increased risk, regardless of whether the later complication was the same or different.
Women whose only complication occurred in a later pregnancy had a 1.7-fold higher risk, while those whose first pregnancy was complicated but whose later pregnancies were not had a 1.4-fold increased risk. Even women who never experienced a complication but had only one pregnancy showed a 1.8-fold elevated risk compared to women with two or more complication-free pregnancies.
The study, published in the European Heart Journal, followed over a million Norwegian women with complete pregnancy histories from 1967 to 2020. Researchers examined six pregnancy complications individually and as a composite measure, finding that the combination of first pregnancy complications and later complications carried the highest risk.
However, the study cautions that while a woman's pregnancy history provides valuable information about future risk, it remains unclear whether complications directly cause cardiovascular disease or merely reflect underlying poor cardiovascular health. Further research is needed to clarify the underlying mechanisms and guide interventions for at-risk women.
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