How pregnancy can expose heart conditions

A growing belly, swollen feet and a widening nose are just a few changes to your appearance that you might experience during pregnancy. But pregnancy also impacts your body internally, especially your heart.

Pregnancy can put extraordinary stress on the body, making it a critical time to diagnose heart conditions in younger women.

Not only can hormonal changes during pregnancy worsen pre-existing symptoms, but a woman’s blood volume increases by 30% to 50% during this time. This means the heart must work significantly harder to pump blood throughout the body. The added stress can suddenly make symptoms appear if you have a heart valve problem or a weak heart muscle.

A woman’s heart rate also naturally increases by 10 to 20 beats per minute during pregnancy. This increased cardiac workload has the potential to reveal underlying abnormal heart rhythms, like atrial fibrillation and various arrhythmias.

“Pregnancy functions much like a stress test because of the body’s drastic physiological and hormonal changes,” say Dr. Pantila Bateman, a cardiologist at Advocate Health Care. “We commonly see hypertension and arrhythmias manifest during pregnancy due to these changes.”

Additionally, pregnancy is often the first time many women have regular interaction with health care providers. This allows for routine testing and more hands-on care, which can help uncover heart conditions that could otherwise remain undetected until later in life.

“Heart conditions that occur during pregnancy can increase the long-term risk of developing heart disease in the future,” Dr. Bateman explains. “That’s why it is important to seek medical care throughout pregnancy and after delivery to help reduce future cardiovascular risks.”

If you are pregnant and experiencing symptoms that feel unusual for you, Dr. Bateman encourages you not to ignore them and to seek care. Early recognition can help prevent more serious conditions from developing.

Take a free online quiz to learn your risk for heart disease or find an OB-GYN provider near you: IL | WI