FLOWER (Follow-up of the Long-term Outcomes of WomEn with cardiovascular conditions in pRegnancy)
The FLOWER study aims to collect health outcome data for women who have had cardiovascular problems during pregnancy over a long period of time. This will allow us to study how the health of these women has changed and identify whether there are any factors that influence this.
Study Background
Some women develop cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) conditions during pregnancy, for example: high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia, heart failure or a heart rhythm disorder. Previous research has helped us understand that this could lead to an increased risk of developing cardiovascular and other health problems later in life. However, there is little evidence about the timings of when these problems might occur, or whether such problems could have been predicted, or about what makes one woman more likely than another to develop further problems.
Therefore to start to answer the above questions, we need to follow-up women who have had cardiovascular problems during pregnancy, over a long period of time, to study how their health changes, and whether there are any factors that influence this. This study therefore aims to identify all women aged 18 and over, who are due to deliver or have recently delivered at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, and who have been newly diagnosed with a cardiovascular condition during their pregnancy, and to follow them up over the next 20 years to study how their health changes.
Study Objectives
The purpose of this study is to identify how a woman’s health changes over her lifetime after being diagnosed with a cardiovascular condition during a pregnancy. We aim to create a database which includes all women aged over 18 years of age, who have been newly diagnosed with a cardiovascular condition during a pregnancy, and to observe the health of these women over the next 20 years. The data we collect will be used to better understand the kinds of conditions that might develop after pregnancy, the timing of when such conditions might happen, and to understand which women are more prone to developing further problems. From this data, we hope to be able to suggest how often women should be undergoing health check-ups after their pregnancy, or suggest things that might be done to reduce the risk of future health problems.
The study involves collecting health information in two ways:
- Via a single telephone call with the participant (one year following recruitment)
- By accessing the participant's medical records
For further information please contact: flower@cardiov.ox.ac.uk
