Pregnancy and Diseases of the Cardiovascular System

If you suffered from rheumatism in childhood and developed rheumatic heart disease, you have a congenital heart defect, or you have any other diseases of the cardiovascular system, when planning a pregnancy, be sure to consult your doctor. Only with its permission is it worth getting pregnant.

If you feel well, you are not tired by daily work, and shortness of breath and palpitations appear only during physical activity, then you can hope to carry and give birth to a healthy child.

If at rest you feel shortness of breath, which worsens when walking quickly, or even when doing light work, do not risk getting pregnant. Pregnancy and childbirth are dangerous for your life and the life of your child. In addition, termination of pregnancy is also quite dangerous.

The development of pregnancy significantly increases the load on a woman’s cardiovascular system, as there is a need to ensure the vital activity of the developing fetus. During pregnancy, body weight increases, blood volume increases, the growing uterus pushes the diaphragm upward, as a result of which the position of the heart changes (more horizontal). In addition, pronounced hormonal changes occur in the body. All this requires a significant restructuring of the cardiovascular system due to the increasing load on it as the duration of pregnancy increases.

Women with heart defects are hospitalized in a hospital for examination and preventive treatment three times during pregnancy: at 8-12 weeks, at 28-32 weeks and 3 weeks before birth. This is necessary for careful monitoring and preparation for childbirth.

If pregnancy is contraindicated for a woman, surgical treatment of heart disease is recommended. This can improve your health and make it possible to carry a pregnancy to term, but pregnancy and childbirth are still risky.

With congenital heart defects of the “pale type,” pregnancy usually proceeds well. On the contrary, “blue” defects, due to severe oxygen starvation, make pregnancy almost impossible.

Hypertension is also dangerous due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth. To prevent complications, constant medical supervision is necessary. In severe stages of hypertension, pregnancy is contraindicated.

Thus, for diseases of the cardiovascular system, consultation with a doctor and careful monitoring at all stages of pregnancy are extremely important for timely detection and prevention of possible complications.