Coronary heart disease (CHD) occurs when a build-up of fatty deposits makes your arteries narrower. This restricts the flow of blood and can lead to chest pain when you exert yourself (called angina) or a heart attack, where a blood clot entirely blocks one of the coronary arteries.
CHD in pregnancy is rare, as it is more common in older women over the age of 50. However, it is becoming more common, as more women are getting pregnant when they're older, or are overweight or smoke. Both smoking and being overweight increase your risk of CHD.
Read more about coronary heart disease.
What are the risks?
Women who are most at risk of CHD are those who:
- smoke
- are overweight
- have a family history of early CHD (if your father or brother was diagnosed with CHD before the age of 55, or your mother or sister was diagnosed before 65)
- have diabetes
- have high blood pressure
- are older (the older you are, the more likely you are to develop heart disease)
These are called risk factors for heart disease. The more risk factors you have, the more likely it is that you will develop heart disease.
The main risk for women with CHD who become pregnant is that they'll have a heart attack during pregnancy. Cardiac disease is a leading cause of women dying in pregnancy.
The risks to your baby are unknown, although some of the drugs you may be taking for your CHD or related conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, may affect your baby.
Your care during pregnancy
The best way to ensure a healthy pregnancy is to visit your GP or cardiologist (heart specialist) before you start trying for a baby.
Your GP or cardiologist can give you advice on which drugs are safe to take during pregnancy, and may be able to adjust your treatment to minimise any risks to you and your baby. If it isn't possible to stop taking certain drugs, your doctor can discuss the risks associated with this treatment during your pregnancy.
If you are taking aspirin for your condition, it is safe to continue taking this during pregnancy. You should never stop taking any drugs without consulting your doctor or cardiologist first.
If you have had a stent inserted to stop your arteries from becoming narrowed or blocked, you will need to discuss with your cardiologist the risks of you becoming pregnant, as well as the best way of managing the stent during pregnancy, to ensure it doesn't become blocked.
You can prepare your body for pregnancy by doing the following things:
During your pregnancy, you should be under the care of a consultant obstetrician and a cardiologist in a hospital maternity unit. You can expect to have more frequent antenatal check-ups, particularly if your CHD is related to other conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure. You must ensure that you keep all your appointments, or reschedule them if you have to cancel.
While you're pregnant you should:
Labour and birth
It is important that you give birth in a maternity unit in a hospital, but you should be able to have a normal vaginal birth.
Read about labour signs and pain relief.
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