A new study, published recently in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found that women with hypertensive disorders during pregnancy were at higher risk of end-stage kidney disease - requiring dialysis or kidney transplant - than women without complicated pregnancies.

This new research concerning a woman’s life-time risk of kidney disease based on her pregnancy history directly supports Dr. Graeme Smith’s research at the Maternal Health Clinic in Kingston, Ontario.

"It also highlights one of the current pitfalls of clinical practice,” said Dr. Julian Spaan of Maastrict University in a journal commentary accompanying the research. “[A]lthough these women have great attention paid to their high blood pressure during pregnancy, there is no structured follow-up of blood pressure or cardiovascular and renal risk factors after pregnancy."

As a Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist and clinician scientist at Kingston General Hospital, Dr. Graeme Smith, has proposed pregnancy and the postpartum period as the best time for women to be screened for heart disease risk factors. He describes pregnancy as a physiologic stress test, one that can reveal underlying problems. Failure of the stress test, meaning development of certain pregnancy complications, (such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, pre-term birth) indicates a woman’s increased risk of developing heart disease later in life.

More and more research is making the connection between a woman’s pregnancy history and her post-partum health. By initiating screening for women who suffered pregnancy complications such as high blood pressure, doctors can identify the risks of developing chronic and fatal diseases like cardiovascular disease, renal failure and diabetes in order to help patients improve their long-term health.

Read Dr. Smith’s research papers; CVD Risk After A Pregnancy Complicated by Preeclampsia [PDF] and Metabolic Syndrome Risk After A Pregnancy Complicated by Preeclampsia [PDF] for more information about the risks of cardiovascular disease for women who experienced high blood pressure (preeclampsia) while pregnant.

Read a summary of the research study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal at CBC news.