Pacemaker and getting pregnant

Hi all,

I have a pacemaker for bradycardia arrythmia since 2009, is it possible to have a successful pregnancy with this condition? Would it be risky for me or the baby?

Thanks,
Ghizlane

2 Comments

probably

by Tracey_E - 2013-06-24 10:06:58

Ask your dr to be sure but I had two babies after I got my pm. They are both teens now, which is much harder on my heart than being pregnant ever was ;oP

Just having a pm will not prevent us from having a baby, but the underlying reason why we needed the pm may complicate things. Bradycardia is just a slow heart rate, arrhythmia means not beating normally. Those are more symptoms than a specific diagnosis and can include a lot of different things. My brady is caused by a heart block which is an electrical issue so my heart is structurally normal and my problem is fixed with the pm, so the dr said I have no restrictions.

My ob, on the other hand, had never had a pacemaker patient before and he freaked a bit, was ready to send me to a high risk ob, have a consult with a neonatal cardiologist and I forget what else. I asked my cardio to call him. The cardio assured him I was fine, that my problem was not genetic so there was no chance of passing it on to my kids, that he could treat me like everyone else. The only thing he did request was to have me on a cardiac monitor during delivery and that if things got drawn out and my heart showed signs of stress there would be an immediate c-section. But things went smoothly both times.

pacemaker dependent and pregnant

by kinerby - 2014-10-21 09:10:27

I am currently 18 weeks pregnant and I"m pacemaker dependent for complete heart block with no underlying heart rate. I've had pacemaker for 18 years now and had multiple surgeries and ablations to get arrythmias under control, but was given the go ahead to try last year. My OB is not concerned, but said we would most likely do a scheduled c-section just to prevent too much strain on the heart while laboring. I did have to stop my Lisinopril and HCTZ while pregnant and therefore am already having quite a bit of swelling, but the doctor said this was expected and should be ok. He did warn me that it may get quite uncomfortable with the edema, but that is should be completely safe. He said if i started having any troubles, they could easily adjust my settings to keep up with babies demands.

Some doctors that are less experienced may be nervous about you having a pacemaker, but just find one that has experience with complicated pregnancies and you should be fine. Mine happens to know my EP and is not worried at all. He just said we would monitor a little closer, which is perfectly fine with me.

Good luck with everything!!!

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