How does maternal cardiovascular function change from preconception to the postpartum period in normal pregnancy?
First trimester or postpartum baselines underestimate true pregnancy-related cardiovascular changes, highlighting the need for preconception baselines in future studies.
We have shown that normal pregnancy, irrespective of parity, is associated with significant changes commencing very early in pregnancy, continuing throughout pregnancy, and some of these changes persisted postpartum. Therefore, first trimester or postpartum baselines will underestimate the true extent of pregnancy-related changes. Prospective studies of cardiovascular function from preconception to postpartum will provide more reliable estimates of the influence of cardiovascular maladaptation during pregnancy complications and their effect on longer term cardiovascular function.
Mahendru et al. (2014) studied this question.