Perinatal Outcomes of Pregnant Persons with complicating factors

Background: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of indirect mortality among pregnant people accounting for almost 13% of deaths in pregnancy and the first year postpartum. Individuals with pre-existing congenital and acquired cardiac disease are at the highest risk for maternal and fetal complications including hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, preterm delivery, low birth weight, heart failure and maternal and fetal mortality. Previous research has indicated that outcomes are improved when patients received multidisciplinary care from Obstetrics, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Cardiology and Anesthesiology specialists. The Cardio-Obstetrics Clinic at UMass was developed and started seeing patients in May of 2024 in order to centralize and optimize care for patients with cardiac conditions.

Proposed Methods: We aim to create a prospective database of all patients see in the Cardio-Obstetrics clinic at UMass. Using this database, we will then be able to track clinical outcomes and use the database for retrospective analysis of perinatal and cardiac outcomes. Additionally, we would like to perform a qualitative study of patient experience of receiving multidisciplinary care during pregnancy for cardiac conditions to better understand how we can provide optimal care for this patient population.