Does congenital heart disease severely jeopardise family life and pregnancies? Obstetrical history of women with congenital heart disease in a single tertiary centre.

Aim: Women with congenital heart disease are often considered to be restricted in their obstetrical life and even their marital life. Our single-centre study aimed to determine the real-life situation of these women with regard to successful family life and any pregnancy complications they may experience.

Methods: From our database of adults with congenital heart disease, 160 of 178 women completed a questionnaire and had their files reviewed. They were classified into three groups according to their pregnancy risk - "good condition" group, no pregnancy restriction; "at-risk" group, pregnancy allowed with close follow-up at a tertiary centre; and "contraindicated" group, pregnancy inadvisable.

Results: The proportion of women in a relationship was 46% with no difference between the three groups. In the groups where pregnancy was allowed, 55% of women conceived a child. The total incidence of spontaneous abortion was 21%. The rate of caesarean section was 15%. The incidence of cardiac failure was 4.7%, arrhythmia 1.2%, endocarditis 1.2%, hypertension 2.4%, and preeclampsia 1.2%. Foetal complications included prematurity and/or low birth weight (9.5%) and one foetal malformation (0.82%).

Conclusion: Women with severe congenital heart disease are willing to start a family and are successful in this enterprise. Although the complication rate during pregnancy in congenital heart disease remains high, with good monitoring these pregnancies occur without severe complications and a low rate of medical abortion or caesarean section.