A child’s future heart health may be partially shaped before they are born, reports a new study that found pregnancy complications are linked to poorer cardiovascular health in offspring more than 20 years later.
The study found that young adults whose mothers had high blood pressure during pregnancy—either pregnancy-associated hypertension, pre-eclampsia or eclampsia—had more signs of early arterial injury, higher blood pressure, higher body mass index and higher blood sugar than peers.
For the study, published in JAMA Network Open, researchers at Northwestern University evaluated nearly 1,350 mother-child pairs from the Future of Families and Child Well-Being Study, which enrolled mothers and children at birth between 1998 and 2000 across 20 U.S. cities. The children were then followed into adulthood.
The study found that, at around age 22, participants whose mothers had high blood pressure during pregnancy had:
- Higher body mass index (+2.8 BMI points)
- Higher diastolic blood pressure (+2.3 mm Hg)
- Higher blood sugar levels (+0.2% HbA1c)
- Thicker artery walls (~0.02 mm)
While the difference in artery wall thickness may seem small, the study authors said it corresponds to roughly three to five years of additional vascular aging. That means arteries looked older and less healthy than expected, which raises the risk of future heart disease.
Other pregnancy complications also showed some long-term effects. For example, exposure to gestational diabetes was linked to worse blood pressure and some evidence of artery thickening. Being born preterm was also associated with higher blood sugar levels.
With pregnancy complications on the rise in the U.S., senior author Nilay Shah said the study provides compelling evidence that improving health before and during pregnancy could help reduce heart disease risk in the next generation.
Data from Northwestern University