Women who experience hypertension during pregnancy face an increased risk of heart disease and hypertension later in life, a new study reveals.

Researchers from McGill University in Montreal, Canada analysed 1,46,748 women with a first pregnancy.

The results suggested that after a follow-up of approximately four-and-a-half years, 997 women were diagnosed with cardiovascular disease and 6,812 women developed hypertension.

When they were compared with women without hypertension during pregnancy, those with hypertension during pregnancy had a 2.2-times higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease and a 5.6-times higher risk of developing hypertension after pregnancy.

Subsequent pregnancies did not appear to influence these associations.

Lead author Sonia Grandi said that the study highlights the need for long-term follow-up of women with a history of hypertension during pregnancy to provide early management of risk factors for cardiovascular disease.