Pregnancy related disorders and diseases could mean heart issues for bub down the line

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-05-15 12:35

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Adverse pregnancy outcomes - such as gestational hypertension (high blood pressure), pre-eclampsia, and gestational diabetes - have been linked to worse heart health in their babies as they age, say US researchers. The team looked into data that followed 1,333 mother-child pairs for 22 years, and say those kids who were exposed to hypertensive disorders of pregnancy while still in the womb were also more likely than their unaffected peers to have a higher BMI, diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number on a blood pressure reading) and blood sugar levels. They were also more likely to have an early injury to their arteries, the team adds.

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conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, USA

Funder: The Future of Families and ChildWell-Being Study is supported by grants R01HD076592, R01HD036916, R01HD039135, and R01HD040421 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the NIH as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The Future of Families—Cardiovascular Health Among Young Adults study is supported by grant R01HL149869 from the NHLBI. This study was supported, in part, by the Summer Research Scholars Program at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (Ms Lam) and grants 24CDA1266732 from the American Heart Association (Dr Shah) and K23HL157766 from the NHLBI (Dr Shah).

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