Cardiovascular Disease Among Women and Birthing Individuals After Delivering a Child With Congenital Heart Disease

Background: Individuals have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease later in life if they give birth to a child with congenital heart disease (CHD). The mechanism of this association has not been well documented. Objectives: The authors aimed to describe the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and risk factors in women and birthing individuals 18 to 23 years after delivery of a child with CHD compared to normative data. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was distributed to mothers whose infants with CHD had undergone cardiac surgery in 1998 to 2003 and previously enrolled in a prospective observational study. We compared rates of cardiovascular disease and risk factors to age- and sex-matched parous women and birthing individuals from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Results: = 0.03). Compared to National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey participants, rates of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular risk factors were similar. Conclusions: Women and birthing individuals whose children had CHD had similar rates of cardiovascular risk factors and disease at 18 to 23 years after delivery, compared to age- and sex-matched parous controls. Higher severity of child's CHD was associated with increased risk of maternal cardiovascular disease, an association that should be evaluated in future studies.