Cardiovascular disease risk for mothers and offspring resulting from complicated pregnancies

Cardiovascular diseases continue to ravage the human race, with huge morbidity and mortality consequences. Women are disproportionately represented in this matter and have continued to lag behind in success with preventive programs. This has been thought to be due to what has been described as gender specific risk factors. These include but not restricted to menstruation and pregnancy-related factors. It has been shown that women who go through complicated pregnancies ending in adverse pregnancy outcomes invariably develop cardiometabolic diseases that drive atherosclerosis and its consequences. Although they may enter pregnancy with covert cardiovascular risk factors, the anatomical, biochemical, and physiological adaptations of pregnancy are such that can give rise to cardiovascular diseases. In this review, efforts were made to explain the link between these adaptations and cardiovascular diseases that result in adverse pregnancy outcomes and how these adverse pregnancy outcomes make them prone to suffering from cardiovascular diseases and their complications later in life. The review also highlighted how these maladaptations in pregnancy result in intrauterine stress for the growing fetuses. They are, therefore born through manipulations and surgical intervention at times rather prematurely with cardiovascular defects and metabolic and physiological issues that later in life lead them to manifest with cardiovascular diseases. Finally, a few suggestions were made on how to prevent these predispositions with the conviction that comprehensive implementation will result in a downward spiral of cardiovascular diseases in women to protect the unborn child.