Congenital Heart Defects: PregnancyTopic OverviewBoth women and men who have a congenital heart defect need to think about a few things when planning a pregnancy. These include the risks of passing a heart defect to your child as well as the possible health risks of a pregnancy for a woman who has a heart defect. footnote 1, footnote 2, footnote 3 Plan a pregnancyIf you are thinking of becoming pregnant and you or your partner has a congenital heart defect, there are a couple of things to think about.
Work with your doctorIf you have a congenital heart defect, your pregnancy may be considered high-risk. Specific issues will need to be addressed with your doctor, such as:
Health care during and after pregnancyYou may have a cardiologist involved with your care throughout your pregnancy and delivery. A fetal echocardiogram can be done as early as 16 to 18 weeks of pregnancy to check for congenital heart defects in the fetus. Other testing, such as chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis , may be done. Related InformationReferences
Credits
ByHealthwise Staff Current as ofOctober 5, 2017
Current as of: October 5, 2017 Sable C, et al. (2011). Best practices in managing transition to adulthood for adolescents with congenital heart disease: The transition process and medical and psychosocial issues: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 123(13): 1454-1485.
Warnes CA, et al. (2008). ACC/AHA 2008 Guidelines for the management of adults with congenital heart disease: Executive summary: A report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines. Circulation, 118(23): 2395-2451.
Canobbio MM, et al. (2017). Management of pregnancy in patients with complex congenital heart defects: A scientific statement for healthcare professionals from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 135(8): e50-e87. DOI: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000458. Accessed
March 2, 2017.
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