Research · 2 Nov 2026
Chronic high blood pressure before pregnancy, and diabetes before pregnancy, lined up with a higher risk of severe fetal heart defects
Source: Medical Xpress
What the research found
Birth-certificate records for more than 44 million U.S. live births from 2018 to 2024, presented by Saad Ur Rahman as American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2026 preliminary research, found nearly 28,000 infants (0.06 percent) with critical congenital heart disease. Chronic high blood pressure was associated with a 30 percent higher risk of that outcome than pregnancies with no high blood pressure. Type 1 or type 2 diabetes before pregnancy was associated with a 48 percent higher risk than no diabetes. Gestational high blood pressure was associated with an 8 percent higher likelihood. Eclampsia was not significantly associated. About 1.5 percent of the severe cases were linked to chronic or gestational high blood pressure. Maternal high blood pressure in these records rose from about 9.4 percent of pregnancies in 2018 to 13.9 percent in 2024. The analysis adjusted for demographics, diabetes, smoking, pregnancy history, and pregnancy length. It is observational, uses birth certificates, and does not show that changing blood pressure removes the risk. Absolute risk stays low. Clinician care before and during pregnancy is the point of the release. Not medical advice.
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