The overall rate of pregnancy-related stroke went up 54% between 1994-95 and 2006-07, according to the study published in
Stroke: The Journal of the American Heart Association recently. The researchers attributed the increase to women having more risk factors, including high blood pressure and obesity.
The data were gathered from a national database of five to eight million discharges from 1000 hospitals and compared the rates of strokes in women who were pregnant, delivering a baby and who had recently had a baby between the two time periods.
Pregnancy-related stroke increased from 4085 in 1994-95 to 6293 in 2006-07.
‘I am surprised at the magnitude of the increase, which is substantial,’ said lead author Elena V Kuklina, based at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.
‘Our results indicate an urgent need to take a closer look… When you’re relatively healthy, your stroke risk is not that high. Now more and more women entering pregnancy already have some type of risk factor for stroke, such as obesity, chronic hypertension, diabetes or congenital heart disease. Since pregnancy itself is a risk factor, if you have one of these other factors it doubles the risk,’ she said.
For expectant mothers, the rate of hospitalisations rose 47%. In pregnant women and in women who had a baby in the last 12 weeks, the stroke rate rose 83%. However, the rate remained the same for stroke hospitalisations that occurred during the time immediately surrounding childbirth. High blood pressure was more prevalent in pregnant women who were hospitalised because of stroke.
