Pregnancy adds extra work and puts more risk to a woman’s body, especially her heart. The blood volume in a pregnant woman increases 40-50%.

Even for healthy women, pregnancy adds extra work for a woman’s body. The volume of blood increases 40 to 50 percent to provide oxygen and nutrients for mother and baby. So, the heart has to work 30-40% harder to circulate that extra blood. It causes low blood pressure.

During labor and delivery, with each contraction, the heart has to supply about 50% more blood directing more blood flow to the uterus, kidneys and skin. It causes high blood pressure. Also, a pregnant woman has to suffer from blood loss during delivery.

If a pregnant woman already has heart problems, she will be at higher risk due to the above reasons. They need special care during pregnancy. One study shows that a pregnant woman with heart disease is at an increased risk of miscarriage or fetal loss as compared to a healthy woman.

Baby born to a pregnant woman with heart disease as twice at the risk of neonatal complications like premature birth, respiratory distress syndrome, intraventricular hemorrhage, stillborn birth or newborn death.

Women with congenital heart defects should get necessary guidance from their health care provider before becoming pregnant. Many women assume that as they corrected their defects in their childhood itself, they need not worry about them again. However, experts say that the treatment they received may have repaired the defect, but not eliminated it completely.

Research studies showed that many women with congenital heart repairs experience different kinds of heart problems, as they get older. Some women may not be able to handle the extra pressure on the heart during pregnancy. In addition, the heart medications pregnant women take can damage the developing fetus.

However, a woman with heart disease can carry and deliver a healthy child. With proper support and care, a pregnant woman can safely deliver a healthy child. However, some women are at high risk of complications. In such cases, they are advised to consult specialized gynecologist and obstetrician to get proper guidance and care.