Maternal Cardiac Program

• Accredited Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) program.
• Coordinated care and appointments to provide smooth transitions as patients move from prenatal care to hospital delivery, to home, with ongoing postpartum support.
• Specialized care for you in our Maternal Special Care Unit, where you and your baby can recover together, if medically appropriate.
• Access support services throughout your pregnancy and postpartum:
  • Childbirth education, available online and in-person.
  • Lactation support available to those who choose to breastfeed.
  • Maternal Wellness Program provides support for those experiencing perinatal and postpartum depression.
  • The Maternal In Reach Team for Equity (MITEY) provides patients with postpartum blood pressure monitoring, evaluation, treatment, education and support to those with hypertension disorder (high blood pressure) during pregnancy, delivery and postpartum.
  • Neonatal Intensive Care Unit designed to support family-centered care, enhance outcomes and advance research in neonatology.
  • Preventative cardiology program aims to prevent heart disease and stroke in people at risk of these conditions.
• Expert fetal and infant care for available through Yale New Haven Children’s Heart Center and Fetal Care Center.

Our Maternal Cardiac Program provides care for pregnant patients with congenital or acquired heart disease, including but not limited to:

• All types of congenital or acquired heart disease
• Marfan syndrome and other connective tissue disorders
• Arrythmias (irregular heartbeat)
• Heart failure and cardiomyopathy
• Complex hypertension (hard to treat blood pressure)
• Patients with a history of severe preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is a syndrome of high blood pressure and organ disfunction that can occur during the second half of pregnancy and after delivery.
• Patients who have a previous history of coronary artery disease or heart attack.
• Inherited genetic conditions that affect the heart.

If you have any of these symptoms during or after pregnancy, contact your health care provider and get help right away. If you cannot reach your provider, go to the emergency room. Remember to say that you are pregnant or have been pregnant within the last year.

• Headache that won’t go away or gets worse overtime
• Thoughts of hurting yourself or your baby
• Fever
• Chest pain or fast-beating heart
• Severe nausea and throwing up (not like morning sickness)
• Dizziness or fainting
• Changes in vision
• Trouble breathing
• Severe belly pain that won’t go away
• Baby movement stopping or slowing
• Vaginal bleeding or fluid leaking during pregnancy
• Vaginal bleeding or fluid leaking after pregnancy
• Swelling, redness, or pain of your leg
• Extreme swelling of your hands or face
• Overwhelming tiredness