Heart Disease in Pregnancy

Pregnancy with heart disease, which includes both women with pre-existing heart conditions who become pregnant and those who develop new heart conditions during pregnancy, is a serious obstetric complication and one of the leading causes of maternal mortality. Among heart diseases complicating pregnancy, congenital heart disease ranks first, followed by rheumatic heart disease, hypertensive heart disease of pregnancy, peripartum cardiomyopathy, anemic heart disease, and myocarditis, among others. Mild cases may be asymptomatic, while severe cases can present with easy fatigue, loss of appetite, failure to gain weight, post-exertional weakness, palpitations (feeling a strong heartbeat), chest tightness, dyspnea, cough, chest pain, hemoptysis, and edema.