Grant: Planning Grants

The Canadian Heart Health Strategy and Action Plan, states that women including younger women, are at increased risk of heart disease. It identifies improving heart health awareness and prevention of heart disease among women as a national priority. Pregnancy is a time when women see a doctor on a regular basis. Therefore, for most Canadian women, checking for heart disease risk factors at the time of pregnancy and treating them after delivery should be done to prevent future health problems. Furthermore, the development of common pregnancy complications is perhaps the earliest marker for a woman's risk of future heart disease. Unfortunately, pregnancy complications are not recognized by most women and their doctors as risk factors for future health problems. Early detection and treatment of risk factors can prevent most heart disease which is important considering that heart disease costs Canadian's more than 22 billion dollars a year. The GOAL of this workshop is to bring together Canadian and international experts to develop research questions and strategies to better inform the patients and their health care providers about the link between pregnancy complications and future heart disease. The outcome of this will be an improvement in women's long-term health and will ensure that women receive effective and equal care.