AHA News: How to Have a Heart-Healthy Pregnancy Before You Even Conceive

TUESDAY, June 11, 2019 (American Heart Association News) -- Taking good care of your health, especially your heart, is important during pregnancy. But preconception care – the care you get before becoming pregnant – can be just as critical for both mom and baby.

"There are demands that get placed on the heart during pregnancy," said Dr. Maria Sophocles, an OB-GYN and medical director of Women's Healthcare of Princeton in New Jersey. "Women contemplating pregnancy should optimize their cardiac health before conception to prepare for this."

Weight Before Pregnancy Most Important to Risk for Complications

TUESDAY, May 7, 2019 -- Expectant mothers and doctors have focused a lot on how much a woman gains during pregnancy, but new research suggests how much a woman weighs before getting pregnant may be far more important.

The study found that the more a woman weighed at the start of her pregnancy, the more likely she was to experience complications such as high blood pressure, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, cesarean delivery and preterm birth.

Routine Use of Antibiotics May Help After Complicated Vaginal Birth: Study

TUESDAY, May 14, 2019 -- Nearly half of infections among women who undergo an assisted vaginal birth could be prevented by giving them a dose of antibiotics soon after delivery, a new study contends.

The preventive use of antibiotics in these cases could prevent about 5,000 infections in new mothers every year in the United States alone, and many more worldwide, the researchers estimated.

The Surprising Lead Cause of Death for Pregnant Women

MONDAY, May 6, 2019 -- A major medical group has issued new guidance on detecting and treating the leading cause of death in pregnant women and new mothers in the United States.

Heart disease accounts for 26.5% of pregnancy-related deaths, and rates are highest among black women and those with low incomes. On Friday, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) responded with new guidelines on screening, diagnosis and management of heart disease.

1 in 9 U.S. Women Drink During Pregnancy, and Numbers Are Rising

THURSDAY, April 25, 2019 -- Even though the harms to babies are well known, one in nine pregnant women in the United States drinks alcohol, new research shows.

In one-third of those cases, frequent binge drinking is also often involved.

Most States Restrict Pregnant Women's Advance Directives: Study

FRIDAY, April 26, 2019 -- Laws in half of U.S. states override a pregnant woman's advance directive if she becomes incapacitated, a new study finds.

And most of those states don't reveal this in advance directive forms.