Page 20 - Pro-active Management of Women’s Health after Cardiometabolic Complicated Pregnancies

18 | Part 1 Introduction
Aims and outline of the thesis
The general aim of this thesis is to develop and evaluate a postpartum program appraising cardiovascular health and offering lifestyle intervention after complicated pregnancy to reduce future cardiovascular risk.
Part 2 describes research in developing postpartum appraisal of cardiovascular health. To identify when to appraise postpartum cardiovascular health, a historic prospective cohort was used to study recovery after a complicated pregnancy. The results are presented in chapter 4.1. Chapter 4.2 presents a case series, showing associations between thrombophilia -being an unchangeable risk factor for future cardiovascular disease- and different phenotypes of preeclampsia.
Part 3 discusses the development and evaluation of the lifestyle intervention program of the Postpartum Rotterdam Appraisal of Cardiovascular Health and Tailored Intervention (Pro-Active) study. First, chapters 5.1 and 5.2 present literature-based studies on what is already known about post-partum lifestyle intervention and what estimated effect it might have on cardiometabolic risk. Second, chapters 5.3 and 5.4 show the results of focus group studies on the preferences, motivators and barriers in women with a formerly complicated pregnancy with regard to a postpartum lifestyle intervention program. Finally, chapter 5.5 displays the results of the Pro-Active- study. In this chapter the feasibility and effect of a postpartum lifestyle intervention program after complicated pregnancy are described.
Chapter 6 presents a general discussion and focusses on future clinical and scientific implications.