Peripartum Cardiomyopathy.  This  is a heart condition which develops in the last month of pregnancy through the six months following delivery.  No one is sure exactly what causes the condition and opinions vary widely on how rare or widespread it might be.  In PPCM, the pregnant woman's heart muscle becomes weakened and the heart may become enlarged.  Thus, it is not pumping efficiently and fluid builds up in the body, particularly the lungs.  Old statistics state that 1 in every 3000-4300 live births will result in PPCM, but new studies show that it might be as prevalent as 1 in every 1300 live births.  Studies also show that women of African American descent are more susceptible.

Symptoms of PPCM include shortness or breath, severe swelling of the ankles, feet and legs, a crackling sound in your throat and chest which becomes more pronounced when you lie down, racing heart, dizziness, chest pain, and cough.  Women may have some, all or none of these symptoms and since most of these are also symptoms of pregnancy, a diagnosis might be late in coming.  Sometimes, the diagnosis is Congestive Heart Failure or Pulmonary Edema.  Both of these are correct and can be illnesses resulting from PPCM.  Diagnosis of PPCM can be made not from a specific test, but by a series of tests that rule out all other heart afflictions.  These tests are listed on a separate page.

Most doctors are of the opinion that 50% of PPCM patients will get better, while the other half will get worse and eventually die.  Speaking only of the women on this board, most have gotten better and gone on to live long, happy lives.  Doctors also think that if you are going to heal, you will do so in the first six months following diagnosis.  There are women here who have continued to heal and watched their EF's go up as long as four years after diagnosis.  There is always hope.