Funding outcome

Maternal pregnancy complications, such as gestational diabetes and high blood pressure, are risk factors that are as strong as smoking for the future development of cardiovascular disease in both mom and baby. Twin pregnancies have an elevated risk of developing complications; 80% of twin pregnancies are affected, compared to 25% of singleton pregnancies. Despite these complications being three times more likely to occur in twin pregnancies, there is very limited research regarding the body's adaptations to twin pregnancies, and as a result specific recommendations for management, prevention and treatment of complications in women with twins are lacking. The physiological stress of pregnancy has been suggested to 'unmask' risk for cardiovascular disease and consequently, some women develop hypertensive complications later in pregnancy. Abnormal responses to additional physiological stress at this early stage of pregnancy can predict the development of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia later in pregnancy. Whether or not there is decreased maternal vascular function in women with twin pregnancies is directly associated with possible future hypertensive complications. Functional assessment of vasculature (arteries in the body) has been shown to be quite effective in singleton pregnancies, yet blood vessel function in twin pregnancies has yet to be examined. The aim of this project is to assess the effect of twin pregnancy on maternal cardiovascular health. The specific goal of this WCHRI summer studentship is to investigate how twin pregnancies impact vascular system function, using flow-mediated dilation (FMD) - a marker of blood vessel function. The project will be the first to examine the independent impacts of twin pregnancy on vascular function. Such information could be used to inform larger trials that may ultimately lead to the earlier identification, and therefore improved management, of women at high risk of hypertensive complications.