Desiring a child poses problems that are not easy to solve for those suffering from cardiomyopathy. If you are a woman, fear and emotions play an even heavier role because your own health is at stake. To better understand the hopes and feelings felt by these women, we have collected the kind testimony of Bruna, a 26-year-old pregnant woman suffering from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (CMI).
Bruna told us that the worries and fears, for herself and for her child, are many but "they must not block a woman who dreams of becoming a mother". The worries for herself are due to her being "discovered", that is, to be in a period, the first of her life, in which she does not take the medicines that helped her to control her cardiomyopathy. There are also fears for her child, mainly due to the possibility of passing on the genetic variant responsible for the disease. Their presence could be discovered immediately by carrying out an amniocentesis, a minimally invasive examination through which it is possible to diagnose congenital diseases already in the first months of pregnancy. However, Bruna and her husband decided not to take this exam as it would make no difference to their choice to become parents.
Of course, they wholeheartedly hope, like any parent and perhaps more so, that their little girl is healthy. In any case, Bruna is ready to guide her daughter in the fight against this disease and to assist her with all her strength in any difficulty; it is precisely this belief that gave the definitive impetus to Bruna and her husband. Furthermore, starting from her personal experience, Bruna is well aware that medical research has allowed cardiologists to have more and more effective therapies available to combat this pathology. In the coming years, new drugs will be available, which will give even better results in the control of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and there will also be advances in cardiac surgery techniques and technologies, so much so that some interventions will become less invasive and more effective. The advancement of medicine can therefore give confidence to those who want a child, but the most important awareness that prompted Bruna in her decision is the belief that she will not be alone to fight against her child's illness in the unfortunate case it is needed. . Bruna, her husband and the whole family will be united in helping her grow in harmony with her eventual illness. Bruna is aware that she herself can be the best guide for her daughter, since she has lived with CMI for many years and therefore can use her experience and sensitivity to be able to understand and help her.
In her decision, Bruna had to evaluate the risks she would face during her pregnancy. Until a few decades ago it was really risky for a woman with HCM to carry on a pregnancy, for her own health and even for her own life. Fortunately, things have changed today. It is very important that the woman is followed during pregnancy not only by her own gynecologist but also by an experienced cardiologist in order to protect her health, and that of the baby, as well as to receive explanations and reassurance. In fact, there are noticeable changes in a woman's body over the course of the 9 months of gestation and these can sometimes be worrying or frightening. The heart is also in a new situation to which it must adapt. For example, one of these adaptations is the physiological increase in heart rate. Despite being a normal phenomenon, this increase in heart rhythm scared Bruna: for a woman with HCM who is not currently taking any medication temporarily, as in her case, it can be an event experienced with worry and anxiety. In these situations, the reassurance of the experienced cardiologist can make a difference in the patient's emotional state.
The message that Bruna transmits to us is therefore that of not giving up motherhood, if desired, because the frontier of medicine has moved forward in recent years in the ability to manage hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. And this will happen even more in the near future for both medicine and surgery. This genetic disease must not hold back the intended parents and in particular the affected mother. The secret to face pregnancy with serenity lies in contacting experienced and trusted doctors who can make the patient feel protected, and in having the certainty of wanting to guide your child in the fight against any disease.