Pregnancy-related health behavior of women with congenital heart disease: room for behavioral change interventions.

Background: Pregnancy in women with congenital heart disease is associated with maternal and neonatal complications. In order to reduce risks for unfavorable outcomes, pregnant women need to adopt specific health behaviors. We investigated the pregnancy-related health behavior of women with congenital heart disease during their pregnancy.
Methods: As part of a large study on pregnancy in congenital heart disease in the Netherlands and Belgium, we designed a descriptive, retrospective study that included 137 women. Patients born between January 1, 1958 and December 31, 1983, who had been pregnant for at least 20 weeks, and who were in active cardiac follow-up were eligible for inclusion. Patients with isolated patent foramen ovale, rheumatic heart disease, and mental retardation were excluded. Participants were interviewed by telephone using a questionnaire to retrospectively assess their health behavior during pregnancy.
Results: Most of our participants did not drink alcohol (91.1-95.6%) and did not smoke (91.2-93.8%) during their pregnancy. Forty to fifty percent adopted physical restrictions. All were followed by an obstetrician, but only 38.2-56.9% regularly visited a cardiologist during pregnancy.
Conclusions: Health behavior in pregnant women with congenital heart disease is generally good. However, it was worrisome that only a relatively few patients received follow-up from a cardiologist.