Prenatal depression puts moms more at risk of heart disease: study

By Alice Clifford via SWNS

Moms who experience depression during pregnancy are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease within two years of giving birth, warns a new study.

Researchers found that those who suffered from prenatal depression were significantly more at risk of heart failure, ischemic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, cardiac arrest and high blood pressure.

Out of the diseases, they were most likely to suffer from ischemic heart disease, with the study revealing that women who were depressed during pregnancy had an 83 percent higher risk of developing the condition.

Ischemic heart disease is also known as coronary heart disease. It is caused by narrowed heart arteries, which limit blood and oxygen to the muscle.

The condition can lead to chest pain, shortness of breath, pain throughout the body, faintness and nausea.

Women with prenatal depression also had a 60 percent higher risk of cardiac arrest, were 61 percent more likely to suffer from cardiomyopathy and were 32 percent more at risk of receiving a new high blood pressure diagnosis.

The negative effects of depression on cardiovascular health in the general population are well established.

Depressed men and women are more likely to develop heart disease later in life.

However, little research has been done on prenatal depression as a specific risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Study author Dr. Christina Ackerman-Banks, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology-maternal fetal medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, said: “We need to use pregnancy as a window to future health.

“Complications during pregnancy, including prenatal depression, impact long-term cardiovascular health.

“The postpartum period provides an opportunity to counsel and screen people for cardiovascular disease in order to prevent these outcomes.”

The team studied over 100,000 people who gave birth in the U.S. state of Maine between 2007 and 2019.

They estimated the risk of developing six cardiovascular conditions within two years of delivery.

These were heart failure, ischemic heart disease, cardiac arrest, cardiomyopathy, stroke and high blood pressure.

The researchers carried out another investigation, where they excluded women who had high blood pressure during pregnancy.

These findings showed that women with prenatal depression had an 85 percent higher risk of cardiac arrest, an 84 percent higher risk of ischemic heart disease and were 42 percent more likely to suffer from stroke.

They also had a 53 percent higher risk of cardiomyopathy and were 43 percent more likely to develop high blood pressure within two years.

Prof. Ackerman-Banks said: “Even after excluding those with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, those with depression during pregnancy still had a significantly higher risk of ischemic heart disease, arrythmia, stroke, cardiomyopathy and new chronic hypertension postpartum.”

Previous research found that around 20 percent of women experience depression during pregnancy.

According to the American Heart Associations’ 2023 Statistical Update, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of pregnancy-related death in high-income countries.

However, other pregnancy-related factors could contribute, including chronic inflammation and an increase in stress-related hormones.

Prof. Ackerman-Banks added: “I recommend that anyone diagnosed with prenatal depression be aware of the implications on their long-term cardiovascular health, take steps to screen for other risk factors and consult with their primary care doctor in order to implement prevention strategies for cardiovascular disease.

“They should also be screened for Type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol, and implement an exercise regimen, healthy diet and quit smoking.”

The authors acknowledge that while the study population was large, the results were based on medical claims data, meaning that diagnoses of conditions could not be confirmed.

Additionally, information on race, ethnicity and physical activity levels were not available.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.