Fertility Treatment Doubles the Risk of Heart Disease After Birth

A study by Rutgers Health experts that analyzed more than 31 million hospital records shows that women who underwent fertility treatment were twice as likely to be hospitalized for heart disease in the year following delivery than women who conceived naturally. In fact, women who underwent fertility treatment were particularly likely – 2.16 times more likely than those who conceived naturally. These women were hospitalized due to dangerous high blood pressure.

Increased Risk Especially in the First Month After Delivery

Postpartum checkups are necessary for all patients, but this study shows they are especially important for those undergoing fertility treatment to achieve conception. The study authors say their findings support standards of care that now mandate an initial postpartum checkup three weeks after delivery, standards that some health systems have not yet adopted. Much of the increased risk occurred in the first month after delivery, particularly in patients who developed dangerously high blood pressure.

And according to the experts, these findings are not the only ones that indicate that follow-up care should be provided early. The researchers have been involved in a number of studies in recent years that have found serious risks of heart disease and stroke in various high-risk patient groups in the first 30 days after delivery – risks that could be mitigated by earlier postpartum care.

Why There is an Increase in Heart Disease

The study analyzed the Nationwide Readmissions Database, which contains nationally representative data on approximately 31 million hospital discharges and readmissions per year. The database contains diagnosis codes that allow researchers to find specific populations and identify reasons for readmission. The researchers used data from more than 31 million patients discharged after childbirth between 2010 and 2018, including 287,813 who had undergone infertility treatment.

Although the treatment predicted a greatly increased risk of heart disease, the authors of the study explain that the overall risk was relatively low due to the relatively young women who underwent fertility treatment. Only 550 out of 100,000 women who underwent such treatment and 355 out of 100,000 women who conceived naturally were hospitalized for cardiovascular disease in the year following delivery.

The cause of the increased risk of heart disease associated with fertility treatment remains unclear. The increase in heart disease could be due to the treatments themselves, the underlying medical problems that made patients infertile, or some other cause. Looking to the future, it is important for researchers to see if different types of fertility treatments, and especially medications, are associated with different levels of risk.