Birth and pregnancy complications linked to risk of migraine, epilepsy and sleep problems

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-12-24 03:00

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Women who have high blood pressure during pregnancy, pre-eclampsia or eclampsia are at higher risk of developing a set of neurological problems in the months and years after giving birth, according to international researchers. Over 13 years, the team monitored the health of nearly 650,000 women after their first pregnancy, looking at rates of new-onset migraine, headache, epilepsy, sleep disorders and mental fatigue from 42 days after birth until the end of the study. The researchers say women who'd had high blood pressure during pregnancy, pre-eclampsia or eclampsia were more likely to develop one of the neurological conditions, with those who'd had eclampsia at the highest risk. The researchers say current guidelines recommend monitoring women for other health risks following these pregnancy complications, and medical professionals should also monitor for these neurological problems during check-ups.

Media release

From: JAMA

About The Study: In this study, gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, and eclampsia were associated with an increased risk of new-onset migraine, headache, epilepsy, sleep disorder, or mental fatigue within months to years after giving birth. Guidelines recommend follow-up after delivery for women with gestational hypertension and preeclampsia for their increased risk of cardiovascular disease. At these visits, caregivers should also pay attention to persisting or new-onset of neurological symptoms, since this group of women appears to be vulnerable to developing or experiencing neurological disorders.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Neurology

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Uppsala University, Sweden

Funder: The Swedish Research Council (2020-01640).

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