Grant: Project Grant

There is growing evidence that the pregnancy period may offer a window into the long-term health of the mother. Women who experience pregnancy complications, such as gestational diabetes mellitus (which is diabetes first recognized during pregnancy) and pre-eclampsia/eclampsia (life-threateningly high blood pressure), or those who have adverse neonatal outcomes, such as a low-birth weight or preterm birth infant, are at a higher risk of developing heart disease as they age. Our study will use data from over 500,000 pregnant women in Alberta to develop a clinical prediction tool to identify women who are at the highest risk of developing heart disease in the five to ten years after pregnancy. We will then apply the prediction tool in women who gave birth in Denmark to test its accuracy. Eventually the goal is to design and implement heart disease prevention programs, as soon after pregnancy as possible, for the women who are at the highest risk of developing the disease.