Research Highlights:<\/p>\n
\n\tPeople born to mothers where the birth included a placental abruption (placenta separates from the uterus before delivery) may have a higher risk of developing or dying from cardiovascular disease than those whose birth did not have this complication.
\n\tPeople born to mothers who had a placental abruption are about three times more likely to be hospitalized for cardiovascular disease by the age of 28, and about 4.6 times as likely to die from a cardiovascular event in that timeframe, compared to people born to mothers with pregnancies that were not complicated by placental abruption.
\n\tResearchers say that placental abruption is a serious and underappreciated pregnancy complication, and children born to mothers who had this issue should be monitored for heart and stroke-related conditions as they grow up.
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Embargoed until 4 a.m. CT\/5 a.m. ET Wednesday, March 25, 2026<\/p>\n
DALLAS, March 25, 2026 \u2014 The risk of developing early cardiovascular disease<\/a> or dying from cardiovascular disease by the age of 28 was about 4.6 times higher among people born to mothers who had a placental abruption during their pregnancy. This finding was compared to people whose birth did not have this complication, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association<\/a>, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.<\/p>\n Placental abruption occurs when the placenta separates from the uterus before birth rather than after delivery, and this can lead to severe hemorrhaging or other serious complications for the mother and baby. According to the American Heart Association\u2019s 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics<\/a>, most studies have reported an incidence of 0.5% to 1% for placental abruption in the general population.<\/p>\n \u201cOur study suggests that placental abruption needs to be taken as a very serious complication for the mother and also potentially affecting the baby\u2019s cardiovascular health later in life,\u201d said study lead author Cande Ananth, Ph.D., M.P.H., chief of the division of epidemiology and biostatistics in the department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey. \u201cMost treatments after a placental abruption focus on following the mother after a pregnancy complication. Our study shows it is important that their children are also monitored to identify potential complications due to their increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Having cardio-obstetrics working together with pediatric programs in medical schools and hospitals will be important to provide support and monitor the health of these mothers after delivery and their babies as they grow up.\u201d<\/p>\n This study examined whether a mother\u2019s placental abruption may be linked to the child\u2019s risk of heart and stroke conditions and death from heart disease and stroke over about three decades.<\/p>\n The study reported that:<\/p>\n
The association between placental abruption and increased cardiovascular risk remained similar after conducting an additional analysis contrasting cardiovascular disease risks between biological siblings (each mother served as their own control), suggesting that genetic and environmental factors did not explain this relationship.<\/p>\n \u201cPlacental abruption is a sudden and often catastrophic event that cannot be prevented and comes with no warning. Older women or those expecting more than one baby, such as twins or triplets, have an increased risk of developing this condition. Health care professionals should support patients in maintaining a healthy lifestyle to protect their own health and their baby\u2019s. Avoiding smoking, drinking alcohol and using illegal drugs (particularly, cocaine) and maintaining good blood pressure control are also important, as they are linked to placental abruption,\u201d Ananth said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that women who have complications during pregnancy are often at higher risk for heart disease and stroke, and that\u2019s why the American Heart Association recommends<\/a> closely monitoring these women, especially in the first three months to a year after birth,\u201d said Stacey E. Rosen, M.D., FAHA, volunteer president of the American Heart Association. \u201cThe findings of this study reinforce that it is also important to monitor their babies for risks and identify opportunities to reduce the potential impact these complications may have on them not only right after birth, but throughout their lifetime.\u201d Rosen, who was not involved in this study, is also executive director of the Katz Institute for Women\u2019s Health and senior vice president of women\u2019s health at Northwell Health in New York City.<\/p>\n More research is needed to understand how placental abruption affects heart health in the children born from those pregnancies, according to the study authors. This study is among the first to find a link between cardiovascular risk in kids born to mothers with placental abruption. However, the findings are limited because the study is an analysis of hospital and death records; therefore, researchers cannot prove a cause-and-effect relationship.<\/p>\n Study details, background and design:<\/p>\n
Co-authors, disclosures and funding sources are listed in the manuscript.<\/p>\n Studies published in the American Heart Association\u2019s scientific journals are peer-reviewed. The statements and conclusions in each manuscript are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the Association\u2019s policy or position. The Association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The Association receives more than 85% of its revenue from sources other than corporations. These sources include contributions from individuals, foundations and estates, as well as investment earnings and revenue from the sale of our educational materials. Corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations to the Association. The Association has strict policies to prevent any donations from influencing its science content and policy positions. Overall financial information is available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Additional Resources:<\/p>\n ###<\/p>\n About the American Heart Association <\/p>\n The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. Dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities, the organization has been a leading source of health information for more than one hundred years. Supported by more than 35 million volunteers globally, we fund groundbreaking research, advocate for the public\u2019s health, and provide critical resources to save and improve lives affected by cardiovascular disease and stroke. By driving breakthroughs and implementing proven solutions in science, policy, and care, we work tirelessly to advance health and transform lives every day. Connect with us on heart.org<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, X<\/a> or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.<\/p>\n For Media Inquiries and AHA\/ASA Expert Perspective: 214-706-1173<\/p>\n Karen Astle: Karen.Astle@heart.org<\/a><\/p>\n For Public Inquiries: 1-800-AHA-USA1 (242-8721)<\/p>\n heart.org<\/a> and stroke.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Research Highlights:
People born to mothers where the birth included a placental abruption (placenta separates from the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[818,173030,163,85,46,173034,68194,173031,173032,173033],"class_list":["post-357050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-american-heart-association","tag-cande-ananth","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-jaha","tag-journal-of-the-american-heart-association","tag-placental-abruption","tag-placental-separation","tag-premature-placental-abruption-and-cardiovascular-disease"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\tOut of nearly 3 million pregnancies, approximately 1% (n = 28,641) were affected by placental abruption.
\n\tDuring a 28-year follow-up period, children born to mothers who had a placental abruption during the pregnancy were 4.6 times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than children born to mothers who experienced a normal placental separation from the uterus after delivery.
\n\tChildren born to mothers who had a placental abruption faced nearly three times higher risk of being hospitalized for heart-related complications during the next 28 years. These conditions included heart failure, ischemic heart disease, heart attack, blocked arteries and general cardiovascular disease.
\n\tThe children\u2019s risk of stroke hospitalization was 2.4 times higher than for children whose mothers did not have a placental abruption.
\n\tThese heart disease and stroke risks associated with abruption were even higher among children younger than 1 year old.
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\n\tThis analysis is a study that looks back at past data. Researchers reviewed data from the Placental Abruption and Cardiovascular Event Risk (PACER) project, along with hospitalization and mortality records, to analyze roughly 3 million births in New Jersey from 1993 to 2020, focusing on mothers who had a placental abruption during pregnancy and the babies born to those pregnancies. This study focuses solely on single-baby births.
\n\tOut of 2,949,992 pregnancies in the analysis, 1% (28,641 pregnancies) experienced placental abruption.
\n\tThe researchers followed the offspring for up to 28 years after their birth, reviewing hospital records and mortality records from the birth of the offspring to nonfatal cardiovascular-related hospitalization; birth to death from any cause; and nonfatal cardiovascular hospitalization to death from any cause.
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