Coronary Heart Disease And Pregnancy Essay

Coronary Heart Disease And Pregnancy-Preparing For Pregnancy

By Jackie De Burca

Apr 28, 2012

Coronary heart disease, is a narrowing of the coronary artery: a large blood vessel that supplies blood to the heart. This narrowing is caused by fatty deposits in the artery itself and is the leading cause of heart attacks in the developed world. Cardiac disease of all types is, indirectly, the leading cause of maternal death in the UK. The risk of developing coronary heart disease increases significantly with age beyond 35 years and more significantly still in those over 50 years.

Large scale social changes have led to the increase in the number of pregnant women who suffer with coronary heart disease. The age at which women are able to conceive and sustain a pregnancy has, on average, increased with many factors driving this, not least, increases in health care and fertility medicine. Career and financial pressures also mean women are delaying having their first child and fluidity of family structures also have contributed to older women wishing to conceive with their second or third partners/spouse.

Lifestyle changes have, without doubt, contributed to the rise in younger women developing coronary heart disease. The huge rise in obesity is an obvious starting point and, according to current statistics, the

It is only in recent times that the number of women with coronary heart disease has reached any significant level. The greatest risk posed by embarking upon a pregnancy with coronary heart disease is the risk of heart attack particularly during labour. Other diseases and conditions associated with coronary heart disease such as hypertension (high blood pressure) and diabetes serve only to increase the risk to mother and child. It is also possible that some medications you are taking to control your heart condition may not be suitable for use during pregnancy. Stopping or changing them may further increase the risk of heart