Preeclampsia Increases Risk Of Infant Heart Defects

High blood pressure increases the risk of pre-eclampsia--a pregnancy complication that may cause heart defects in newborns, according to new research. The findings are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In this recent study, researchers analyzed the medical records of close to 2 million infants born in Quebec between 1989 and 2012. Findings revealed that infants born to mothers who exhibited symptoms related to preeclampsia were at a higher risk of critical heart defects. From the sample, this was close to 73,000 women.

Though the risk was relatively small--ranging from 0.1 percent among infants born to mothers with preeclampsia and 0.07 percent to those without--the common illness is estimated to affect roughly 7 percent of the female population and can result in serious complications.

Furthermore, while the study results were not quite able to prove that preeclampsia is the actual cause of heart defects, findings suggest that congenital heart problems and preeclampsia may have similar biologic etiologies, according to researchers. 

Lastly, though the risks appeared to be contained to a number of patients who developed preeclampsia in the 34th week of pregnancy, findings showed that infants could develop mild forms of heart defects regardless of when the problem occurred during pregnancy. 

Symptoms of preeclampsia range from excess protein in the urine to severe headaches, problems with vision, upper abdominal pain to nausea and/or vomiting. If you're pregnant and experiencing symptoms, talk with your doctor.

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