Blood Clot Risk for Women Remains High 12 Weeks following Delivery

A recent study shows that a woman's risk for blood clots remains high for a longer period than previously thought at 12 weeks following delivery. According to researchers from the Department of Neurology and the Brain and Mind Research Institute of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, this is twice as long as previously believed.

For the study, researchers examined the risk of blood clots following birth by looking at data on 1,687,930 pregnant women who had given birth at the California hospital between 2005 to 2010. Reports showed that 1,015 women have suffered from a blood clot during the followup span of 1.5 years, according to background information from the study. The women from the data sample suffered from clots that caused heart attack, pulmonary embolism, stroke and deep vein thrombosis. 

Following the first six weeks after delivery, researchers found that a woman's stroke risk increased by 10.8 times, and at 12 weeks, the risk was 2.2 times higher than normal. However, by 13 to 18 weeks-when the risk was 1.4 times higher than normal-the increase was not significant even to cause great concern, and returned to normal by 19 to 24 weeks.

"While rare, blood clots are a serious cause of disability and death in pregnant and post-partum women, and many members of our research team have cared for young women with these complications," said Hooman Kamel, M.D., lead researcher and assistant professor in the Department of Neurology and the Brain and Mind Research Institute of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, via a press release. "If you have recently delivered a baby, seek medical attention if you develop symptoms such as: chest pain or pressure; difficulty breathing; swelling or pain in one leg; sudden severe headache; or sudden loss of speech, vision, balance, or strength on one side of your body."

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More information regarding the study can be found via the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2014.