Maternal Heart Health
When Two Hearts Are At Risk
When a woman is pregnant, her heart isn’t beating for just one life, it’s working for two. For women with existing cardiac conditions, pregnancy creates unique challenges that require specialized care and attention. At Access Heart Foundation, we recognize the critical intersection of maternal and heart health as an essential yet often overlooked aspect of healthcare in Nigeria.
The Hidden Crisis
In Nigeria, the challenges faced by pregnant women with heart conditions are particularly severe:
- Undiagnosed Heart Conditions: Many women enter pregnancy unaware they have underlying heart issues
- Limited Specialized Care: a lot of facilities in the region cannot provide the dual expertise in cardiac care and maternal health needed during high-risk pregnancies
- Delayed Diagnosis: Heart symptoms during pregnancy are often misattributed to normal pregnancy changes, delaying critical interventions
- Catastrophic Outcomes: Without proper management, cardiac complications during pregnancy can lead to devastating consequences for both mother and child
For a woman with heart disease, pregnancy can mean facing an impossible choice between her life and her child’s future.
Understanding the Risks
Pregnancy creates significant changes in a woman's cardiovascular system: Blood volume increases by 30-50%Heart rate increases by 10-20 beats per minuteCardiac output increases by 30-50%
These normal changes can overwhelm a heart already compromised by:
- Rheumatic heart disease (particularly common in our region)
- Congenital heart defects
- Cardiomyopathy
- Coronary artery disease
- Valve disorders
- Arrhythmias
Our Integrated Approach
Our Integrated Approach
Access Heart Foundation is pioneering an integrated approach to maternal heart health that includes:
Specialized Care Team: Our multidisciplinary team brings together cardiologists, obstetricians, and specialized nurses to provide comprehensive care throughout pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum.
Pre-Conception Counseling: For women with known heart conditions, we provide essential guidance on:
- Risk assessment before pregnancy
- Medication adjustments for pregnancy safety
- Optimizing cardiac health before conception
Community Screening: We conduct targeted screening programs to identify at-risk women before and during early pregnancy through:
- Mobile cardiac assessment units in rural communities
- Training for midwives and community health workers to recognize cardiac warning signs
- Partnerships with maternal health programs across Northern Nigeria
High-Risk Pregnancy Management: For pregnant women with heart conditions, we provide:
- Regular cardiac monitoring throughout pregnancy
- Customized birth plans that balance cardiac and obstetric needs
- Advanced planning for delivery with cardiac support available
- Specialized post-partum monitoring for cardiac complications
Success Stories
Halima’s Journey
Halima was 28 years old and expecting her third child when she began experiencing severe shortness of breath and fatigue. Local healthcare providers attributed her symptoms to normal pregnancy discomforts, but our community health worker recognized potential cardiac symptoms during a village screening program.
At our center, Halima was diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease with severe mitral stenosis, a dangerous condition during pregnancy. Our team provided careful management throughout her pregnancy, performed a planned cesarean section with cardiac monitoring, and later, once recovered, provided the valve repair she needed.
Today, both Halima and her healthy daughter are thriving. “I didn’t know my heart was sick,” Halima shares. “Without this care, I might have left my children without a mother.”
The Path Forward
Access Heart Foundation is committed to addressing the critical needs of pregnant women with heart conditions through:
- Education: Training healthcare providers across Northern Nigeria to recognize cardiac symptoms during pregnancy
- Research: Documenting the prevalence and outcomes of cardiac disease in pregnancy in our region
- Advocacy: Working with government and healthcare leaders to include cardiac care in maternal health programs
- Treatment: Providing life-saving interventions for pregnant women with heart conditions