Prolonged Labor and Adverse Cardiac Outcomes in Pregnant Patients With Congenital Heart Disease

Abstract

(Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2023;228(6):728.e1–728.e8) Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common types of birth defects and affects 8 to 9 per 1000 births. Many patients who have it are diagnosed in infancy, but some are not diagnosed until later in life. The number of patients with CHD who reach childbearing years has increased substantially. Pregnancy can pose difficult challenges, especially in labor and delivery. The physiologic changes that occur during delivery, including increased cardiac demand, rapid changes in intravascular volume, and blood loss, result in significant risk for patients with CHD. The European Registry of Pregnancy and Cardiac disease and the Cardiac Disease in Pregnancy 2 studies have demonstrated that the immediate postpartum period is the highest risk time for heart failure.