This study is looking at the relationship between experiences during pregnancy and cardiovascular health 2 to 3½ years later. The investigators are recruiting women from the approximately 10,000 women who were enrolled and followed over the course of their first pregnancy in another study.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), in collaboration with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, is funding this follow-up study of the nuMoM2b cohort to evaluate the association between adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs) and cardiovascular health approximately 2 to 3½ years postpartum. The study, called the nuMoM2b Heart Health Study or nuMoM2b HHS, utilizes the extensive database and tissue bank developed for nuMoM2b in which nulliparous women are evaluated over the course of pregnancy to study the mechanisms for and prediction of APOs. Women enrolled in the nuMoM2b cohort are extremely well phenotyped through prospective data collection, clinical evaluations, and ultrasound assessments, as well as through the use of standardized definitions. Demographic, psychosocial, dietary, physiologic, and outcome information were collected through maternal interviews, self-administered questionnaires, clinical measurements, ultrasounds, and medical record abstraction. Samples of maternal blood, urine, and cervico-vaginal fluid over pregnancy and cord blood and placenta at delivery were collected and banked. All women completed two sleep questionnaires and over 3,600 had objective overnight sleep studies at two times during pregnancy. Women participating in the nuMoM2b are assessed in nuMoM2b HHS for evidence of cardiovascular disease risk (CVDR), including sleep disordered breathing (SDB), at 2 to 3½ years postpartum. APOs in subsequent pregnancies also are assessed. This study characterizes the relationship between APOs and CVDR, identify first pregnancy profiles that portend subsequent CVDR, determine associations between SDB during the first pregnancy and subsequent CVDR, and identify modifiable factors that mediate the associations between CVDR and APOs in the first and subsequent pregnancy. This follow-up study will allow for the development of strategies to modify these CVDR factors and to improve the health of women suffering APOs. The nuMoM2b Heart Health Study is a prospective observational study that includes interval contacts and a detailed cardiovascular assessment 2 to 3½ years after delivery of the index pregnancy. At the cardiovascular assessment, potentially eligible women are invited to attend a cardiovascular screening visit. After informed consent, a urine pregnancy test is performed to confirm eligibility. The visit includes clinical and laboratory measurements as well as a structured interview to assess domains that were measured in the nuMoM2b pregnancy: physical activity, depression, social support, psychological stress, and nutritional status. Women with sleep breathing assessments during their nuMoM2b pregnancy are offered another overnight sleep study. The overarching goal is to better define the relation between outcomes of pregnancy and long term health of the mother. The specific aims are as follows: Aim 1: Define the incidence of hypertension and the cardiovascular disease risk (CVDR) profile of women approximately 2 to 3½ years after a first pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia or other adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs: stillbirth, small for gestational age at birth \[SGA\], preterm birth, preeclampsia, pregnancy-associated hypertension, gestational diabetes \[GDM\]) compared to women having no APOs in the first pregnancy. Aim 2: Identify a profile in early pregnancy that portends subsequent CVDR approximately 2 to 3½ years postpartum. Aim 3: Determine whether pregnancy and postpartum sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is associated with increased CVDR and identify specific patterns of pregnancy and postpartum SDB that increase CVDR. Aim 4: Identify modifiable factors during and after pregnancy that mediate the associations between APOs and the CVDR during pregnancy and approximately 2 to 3½ years postpartum.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
4,509
Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center- UCI MFM private practice
Fountain Valley, California, United States
Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, Women's and Children's Hospital - Women's Perinatal Group, OB Clinic
Long Beach, California, United States
Hypertension, defined as systolic blood pressure above 140 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure above 90 mm Hg
Will exclude participants with chronic hypertension or pregestational diabetes during or just prior to the index pregnancy.
Time frame: Blood pressures taken at study clinic visit between 2 and 3.5 years postpartum
Systolic blood pressure in mm Hg
Will exclude participants with chronic hypertension or pregestational diabetes during or just prior to the index pregnancy.
Time frame: Blood pressures taken at study clinic visit between 2 and 3.5 years postpartum
Diastolic blood pressures in mm Hg
Will exclude participants with chronic hypertension or pregestational diabetes during or just prior to the index pregnancy.
Time frame: Blood pressures taken at study clinic visit between 2 and 3.5 years postpartum
HDL cholesterol in mg/dL from blood sample following overnight fast of at least 8 hours
Will exclude participants with chronic hypertension or pregestational diabetes during or just prior to the index pregnancy.
Time frame: Blood sample taken at study clinic visit between 2 and 3.5 years postpartum
LDL cholesterol in mg/dL from blood sample following overnight fast of at least 8 hours
Will exclude participants with chronic hypertension or pregestational diabetes during or just prior to the index pregnancy.
Time frame: Blood sample taken at study clinic visit between 2 and 3.5 years postpartum
Triglycerides in mg/dL from blood sample following overnight fast of at least 8 hours
Will exclude participants with chronic hypertension or pregestational diabetes during or just prior to the index pregnancy.
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University of California, Irvine, Medical Center - Prenatal care clinics and private practice
Orange, California, United States
Christiana Care Health Systems
Newark, Delaware, United States
Northwestern University
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Indiana University School of Medicine OB/GYN
Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Columbia University Medical Center- Department of OB/GYN Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine
New York, New York, United States
Case Western Reserve University, MetroHealth Medical Center
Cleveland, Ohio, United States
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Magee Womens Hospital
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
...and 5 more locations
Time frame: Blood sample taken at study clinic visit between 2 and 3.5 years postpartum
Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) from glucose and insulin measured from blood sample following overnight fast of at least 8 hours
Will exclude participants with chronic hypertension or pregestational diabetes during or just prior to the index pregnancy.
Time frame: Blood sample taken at study clinic visit between 2 and 3.5 years postpartum
High sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in mg/L measured from blood sample following overnight fast of at least 8 hours
Will exclude participants with chronic hypertension or pregestational diabetes during or just prior to the index pregnancy.
Time frame: Taken at study clinic visit between 2 and 3.5 years postpartum
Hemoglobin A1c (%) measured from blood sample following overnight fast of at least 8 hours
Will exclude participants with chronic hypertension or pregestational diabetes during or just prior to the index pregnancy.
Time frame: Taken at study clinic visit between 2 and 3.5 years postpartum
Sleep disordered breathing, defined as apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of 3 or more
AHI calculated for apnea-hypopnea events with 3% desaturation.
Time frame: Taken at study clinic visit between 2 and 3.5 years postpartum