A recent study found that less than one in five women get tested for heart disease risk factors after experiencing high blood pressure or diabetes during pregnancy. The research, published in Circulation, highlights a major gap in post-pregnancy healthcare.
Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in women. Studies show that women who have high blood pressure or diabetes during pregnancy are more likely to develop heart disease or suffer a stroke later in life.
Doctors recommend regular health checks, including blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar tests, to catch early signs of heart disease. However, this new study reveals that many women are not getting these tests after pregnancy.
Dr. Amy Yu, a neurologist and senior scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute, explains why this is important. “There’s growing evidence that a woman’s health during pregnancy is linked to her heart health later in life,” she says.
“Guidelines suggest that women with high blood pressure or diabetes during pregnancy should have their cholesterol and blood sugar checked afterward. We wanted to see how often this is actually happening.”
To find out, researchers from ICES and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center analyzed data from more than one million pregnancies in Ontario, Canada, between 2002 and 2019. They compared how often women got tested for diabetes and high cholesterol within three years after giving birth.
The study included two groups: one group of women who had pregnancy-related high blood pressure or diabetes and another group who did not have these conditions.
The results showed a concerning trend. Only 17% of women who had high blood pressure or diabetes during pregnancy got tested for heart disease risk factors in the year after giving birth. Even within three years, fewer than half (44%) had these important tests. Testing rates were even lower for cholesterol compared to diabetes.
Surprisingly, about 33% of women who did not have high blood pressure or diabetes during pregnancy still received these tests. This suggests that the low testing rates among high-risk women may not be due to a lack of access to doctors.
Instead, there may be a lack of awareness among both doctors and patients about the long-term health risks linked to pregnancy complications.
Dr. Yu emphasizes that women need to know their risks so they can take charge of their health. “Women should be aware of their increased risk for heart disease so they can ask their doctors about screening,” she says. “Having this knowledge can also help them make lifestyle changes that improve their heart health.”
Review and Analysis of the Findings
This study highlights an important issue in women’s healthcare. While medical guidelines recommend follow-up testing for women who had high blood pressure or diabetes during pregnancy, most are not getting tested. This means many women could be living with undiagnosed risk factors for heart disease and stroke.
One key finding is that cholesterol screening is especially low compared to diabetes testing. Since high cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease, this gap could lead to missed opportunities for early treatment.
The study suggests that the problem is not just about access to doctors but also about awareness. Many women and healthcare providers may not realize how pregnancy-related conditions can affect long-term heart health.
To improve this situation, doctors should actively remind women to get tested after pregnancy, and women should be encouraged to ask for these tests. More public health campaigns could also help raise awareness about the link between pregnancy complications and future heart disease risks.
Taking simple steps, like regular check-ups, healthy eating, and exercise, could make a big difference in preventing heart disease. This study serves as a reminder that pregnancy is not just about short-term health—it can also be an important sign of future risks that should not be ignored.
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The research findings can be found in Circulation.
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