Does preeclampsia increase heart disease risk later in life?

Certain pregnancy complications—including preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, and preterm delivery—are associated with higher later cardiovascular risk. The meaning varies from one woman to another.

That history is not a diagnosis, and association is not the same as causation. It is still information worth preserving. Years later, a new primary-care clinician or cardiologist may never see the obstetric record unless the patient carries the key facts forward.

Sources: 3

Pregnancy can leave a rhythm clue too

Pregnancy history is not only about blood pressure and blood sugar. A 2026 JACC: Advances analysis using more than 7.6 million pregnancies found that women first diagnosed with atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter during pregnancy had more than three times the long-term risk of major cardiovascular events compared with women without that arrhythmia. A new diagnosis of supraventricular tachycardia during pregnancy was associated with almost twice the long-term risk.

This does not mean that every pounding heart, skipped beat, or fast pulse during pregnancy predicts future heart disease. The study examined diagnosed arrhythmias, not ordinary awareness of the heartbeat. That distinction matters.

This observational study found an association. It does not establish that the rhythm problem caused later cardiovascular events.

A note on the study summary

Faisal Merchant, MD, a coauthor of the research discussed here, reviewed the two HEART RESERVE manuscript passages explaining his team’s findings.

“I think this is well-written and your summary of our study seems very appropriate”

Faisal Merchant, MD. Shared with permission. His feedback applies specifically to those two study passages.

With gratitude to Dr. Merchant and his colleagues for their research and time. The published study is linked in the sources below.

Put the history on one line

You do not need a binder to begin. Write the year of each pregnancy, the gestational age at delivery, any blood-pressure or blood-sugar complication, and what happened after delivery. Other fetal, placental, surgical, or NICU experiences may also be important history to preserve, but not every event is an established maternal cardiovascular risk enhancer. Add what you know; do not guess at what you do not.

Then place that line beside family history, menopause stage, blood-pressure trends, lipids, glucose, symptoms, prior testing, and current capacity. The value comes from connection, not from turning one pregnancy event into an explanation for everything that follows.

Write down your pregnancy history for your next visit

If your baby needed NICU care: your own health guide and worksheet

Carry it forward without carrying fear

A useful history should lead to proportionate care: appropriate screening, attention to modifiable risk, and follow-up matched to the individual. It should not make a woman feel that her future has already been written.

The pregnancy your heart remembers can become a practical sentence at the start of a better medical conversation: this happened, this is what changed afterward, and this is what I want to protect now.

What should I bring to a visit after preeclampsia?

  • The year of each pregnancy, the complications you remember and how many weeks pregnant you were at delivery.
  • Any blood-pressure or blood-sugar results and medicines from pregnancy or after delivery that you can find.
  • Your current medicines, recent results and the follow-up you remember. Mark missing details as unknown rather than guessing.

A question to bring: “I had this pregnancy complication. How does it fit with my health now, and what should we follow over time?”

These notes are for a planned conversation. Do not delay urgent care to complete a worksheet.

Prepare my pregnancy history →
Lisa Zahakos, RPA-C

Written by

Lisa Zahakos, RPA-C

A physician assistant whose clinical practice from 2003–2018 spanned interventional cardiology, executive and integrative medicine, psychiatry and addiction medicine.

Read the editorial and review standard

Evidence behind the article

Sources and editorial review

Sources last checked by Lisa for accuracy:

Who contributed, and what they checked

Pregnancy-arrhythmia study-summary review

Faisal Merchant, MD

Faisal Merchant, MD, a coauthor of the pregnancy-arrhythmia study, reviewed two short HEART RESERVE manuscript passages and approved sharing the same study-summary wording and his feedback on this website. The first two paragraphs of “Pregnancy can leave a rhythm clue too” reproduce wording from that review.

His review covers those study passages. It does not cover the whole article, the preeclampsia explanation, the pregnancy and NICU guides, or the Heart Story tool.

Read his approved feedback

Comment on the original article

Nanette K. Wenger, MD, MACC, MACP, FAHA

After reading the original version of this article, then titled “The Pregnancy Your Heart Remembers,” Nanette K. Wenger offered the following comment, shared with permission.

“Information and education provides power to women to enhance their long term CV health.”

This is her comment on the article she read. It is not a claim that she clinically reviewed later additions, the entire website, or its tools.

Review credits checked against the original correspondence on . The medical source-check dates remain as listed.

  1. Fetal and Long-Term Maternal Outcomes of New-Onset Arrhythmia During Pregnancy: An Epic Cosmos AnalysisHuang, Habibi, Furman and colleagues, including Faisal Merchant · JACC: Advances · August 21, 2026
  2. Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes and Cardiovascular Disease Risk: Unique Opportunities for Prevention in WomenAmerican Heart Association · Circulation · 2021
  3. Opportunities in the Postpartum Period to Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Risk After Adverse Pregnancy OutcomesAmerican Heart Association · Circulation · 2024
  4. Optimizing Postpartum CareAmerican College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists · 2018

The contributions above apply only to the material and dates described. An editorial source check is separate from an independent clinical review. Sources and contributions do not imply endorsement of HEART RESERVE.

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