A new scientific statement from the American Heart Association (AHA) provides physicians with guidance on how to treat women with congenital heart disease who become pregnant and manage their risks of miscarriage and other complications.

The statement was published online in Circulation on Jan. 12.

Mary M. Canobbio, RN, MN, of the University of California-Los Angeles, was the chair of the writing committee, while Carole A. Warnes, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, was the co-chair.

The statement focused on women with complex congenital heart disease who have any complex or physiological lesion. Women born with the disease need immediate medical care and are monitored throughout their lives.

The authors noted that women with complex congenital heart disease often have an increased risk of pregnancy compared with women with milder forms of the disease. They added that the World Health Organization categorizes patients into four pregnancy risk classes.

“Women with complex congenital heart disease were previously advised to not get pregnant because of the risk to their life,” Canobbio said in a news release. “Now scientific research demonstrates that with proper management in the hands of experienced cardiologists and obstetricians, these women can have successful pregnancies.”

The AHA recommended that women with complex congenital heart disease undergo pre-pregnancy counseling. If those women become pregnant, they should develop a delivery plan. They should also be monitored following delivery because the effects of pregnancy can last for six weeks to six months.

“This scientific statement outlines the specific management for these high-risk patients,” Canobbio said. “What we know about the risks for these patients, what the potential complications are, what cardiologists, advanced practice nurses and other cardiac health providers should discuss in counseling these women, and once pregnant, recommendations in terms of the things we should be looking out for when caring these women.”