Mothers of twins are twice as likely to be hospitalised for heart disease in the year after delivery, according to a US study published in the _European Heart Journal._ The risk is even greater for mothers of twins who had high blood pressure during pregnancy.
Researchers analysed data from 36 million hospital deliveries. They divided pregnant women into four groups: those with twins and normal blood pressure during pregnancy; those with twins and hypertensive disease of pregnancy; those with singleton pregnancies and normal blood pressure; and those with singleton pregnancies and hypertensive disease of pregnancy. Hypertensive disease of pregnancy includes gestational hypertension, pre-eclampsia, eclampsia and superimposed pre-eclampsia.
Compared with women with singleton pregnancies and normal blood pressure, women with twins and normal blood pressure were about twice as likely to be hospitalised for cardiovascular disease, such as heart attack, heart failure or stroke. The risk was more than eight times higher for women with twins and high blood pressure during pregnancy. These findings emphasise the added strain that twin pregnancies place on the maternal cardiovascular system.
However, there was no elevated risk one year after delivery.
“People with twin pregnancies should be aware of the short-term increase in cardiovascular disease complications in the first year after birth, even if they had a pregnancy that was not complicated by high blood pressure conditions, such as pre-eclampsia,” the study advised.
The findings are vital because the rate of twin pregnancies worldwide is steadily rising, mostly driven by fertility treatments and older maternal age.