A history of pre-eclampsia, gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes or preterm delivery is an established marker of later cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, and major cardiology guidance treats it as a risk-enhancing factor. Yet it often disappears from the record once the baby is born.
Code it as a long-term problem. It then prompts blood pressure and glucose checks, and informs any later cardiovascular risk discussion, years after the obstetric notes are out of reach.
- Record pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes and preterm birth as lasting problems, not episodes
- Ask about pregnancy history when assessing cardiovascular risk in any woman
- Use the history to justify earlier blood pressure and glucose checks
- After gestational diabetes, arrange regular glucose testing
Why it matters
A risk that is not on the record is a risk nobody acts on.
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