HEALTHCARE professionals are encountering
more and more women with cardiac
conditions contemplating pregnancy or
when pregnant than ever before. Advances
in surgical treatment of congenital cardiac
anomalies mean many women are now
reaching childbearing age and contemplating
pregnancy than would hitherto
have been seen. According to latest UK statistics from
the Centre for Maternal and Child Enquiries
(CMACE) reflecting the deaths that
occurred in 2002-2005 for the first time,
cardiac disease was found to be the
leading cause of maternal death among
women in the United Kingdom, with a
maternal mortality rate for cardiac disease
of 2.27 per 100,000 maternities.