Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death among women in Europe, yet current prediction models often underestimate the true extent of women's risk. A new systematic review published in the International Journal of Cardiology - Cardiovascular Risk and Prevention examined whether pregnancy-related factors could enhance cardiovascular risk prediction in women. 

It consisted of seven studies, published between 2016 and 2022, that included more than 340,000 women. These models integrated pregnancy complications such as hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, gestational diabetes, preterm delivery, and adverse birth outcomes alongside traditional risk factors like hypertension, cholesterol, and diabetes.

The findings revealed that while all models demonstrated moderate to good predictive accuracy, the addition of pregnancy-related factors led to only small but statistically significant improvements in categorisation and reclassification. For example, some models were able to reassign 1–4% of women into more accurate risk categories. It was observed that the benefits were more pronounced among younger women, suggesting pregnancy history may help flag high-risk individuals earlier in life—before chronic conditions develop, before chronic conditions develop.

Despite such promising results, the overall clinical utility of including pregnancy factors in current short-term CVD prediction tools remains limited. Further studies, preferably detailed and long-term ones, are needed. 

Since pregnancy represents a unique window into women’s cardiovascular health, researchers believe it could serve as a “teachable moment” for prevention strategies. With further study, integrating pregnancy history into risk models may enable earlier, more precise interventions to reduce the global burden of CVD in women.