Serious complications during pregnancy linked to higher risk of death: Study

As per new research females who have had serious complications during pregnancy are at a greater risk of dying.

Women, take note! As per new research females who have had serious complications during pregnancy are at a greater risk of dying. The findings of the research were published in the journal 'Obstetrics and Gynecology'. A research team from the CHUM Research Centre (CRCHUM) has shown that women who have had serious complications during pregnancy are twice as likely to die up to three decades later.

Representational image (Unsplash)

Serious conditions such as stroke, cardiac complications, acute kidney failure, and pre-eclampsia affect just under 5 per cent of women during pregnancy and childbirth.

CRCHUM researcher Dr. Nathalie Auger and postdoctoral fellow Ugochinyere Vivian Ukah examined the long-term mortality risks of women with these types of pregnancy complications by analysing more than 1.2 million records of women who gave birth in Quebec between 1989 and 2016.

Compared to women who had no serious pregnancy complications, women in the study were twice as likely to die after childbirth, either in the postpartum period (42 days and less) or afterwards.

Although there was a decline over time, the greater risk of death was still felt several years after delivery, with death occurring an average of 8.3 years earlier for women with severe pregnancy complications compared with no complications.

From a clinical point of view, closer follow-up and preventive interventions to reduce the risk of premature mortality could be justified for women with severe pregnancy complications.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.