WOMEN who have high blood pressure while pregnant retain a greater risk of of heart issues in the years after they give birth, experts have said.

The findings come following a study of almost half a million women and the affect of high-blood pressure – known as hypertension – on heart health.

Scientists from the UK found that women with any of the three hypertensive disorders were more 15 per cent more likely to have coronary artery disease.

And the same mothers are 11 per cent more likely to suffer from a stroke.

But women with the condition are not at higher risk to other heart issues, like heart failure or atrial fibrillation – which causes an irregular heart beat.

Hypertension impacts around 10 per cent of mothers-to-be and can occur at different levels of severity.

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There are three different types of high-blood pressure conditions which are associated with pregnancy – all of which happen at different stages of the pregnancy.

There are called chronic hypertension, gestational hypertension and preeclampsia .

The study, published in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, backs previous research into the dangerous affects of high blood pressure on pregnant women.

One study, found pregnant women with preeclampsia are four times more likely to have a heart attack and three times more likely to have a stroke within 10 years of delivery.

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And they remained twice more likely experience the heart issues than those without preeclampsia up to 20 years later

Other studies found the condition can cause several deadly diseases in children in later life.

Researchers from Denmark and China have now found that children exposed to gestational hypertension in the womb are 26 per cent more likely to die before the age of 19 than those who were not exposed.

What are the symptoms of hypertension in pregnant women?

According to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, symptoms include:

• Increased blood pressure.
• Absence or presence of protein in the urine (to diagnose gestational hypertension or preeclampsia)
• Edema (swelling)
• Sudden weight gain.
• Visual changes such as blurred or double vision.
• Nausea, vomiting.
• Right-sided upper abdominal pain or pain around the stomach.

However many people don’t notice the signs of hypertension, which means it’s usually picked up during routine antenatal appointments.

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