Stroke After Pregnancy

What makes you more likely to have a stroke following pregnancy? High blood pressure and obesity. That's a scary thought. We all know obesity is increasing and I cannot imagine going through a stroke after having a healthy baby. That is a horrible thought. I wonder if some women at risk will be given medication right after they delivery to prevent stroke.
FROM NBC: More and more women are having babies -- followed by strokes! There is an "alarming" increase of pregnancy-related strokes. Rising rates of obesity and high blood pressure are suspected of putting thousands of new mothers at risk for a dangerous health problem: strokes.
Dr. Elena Kuklina - Centers for Disease Control: "Stroke among pregnant women increased by approximately 50% during last 10 years." A new study from the Centers for Disease Control finds the number of women hospitalized with strokes either during or right after their pregnancies swelled from about 4-thousand in 1994.. to more than 6-thousand in 2007.
Dr. Cathy Sila/UH Case Medical Center: "For a young woman with a pregnancy and a baby... to have a stroke.. it's such devastating thing." Many of the pregnancy-related strokes are uncommon in the general population. they're the result of blood clots in the veins of the head -- and there are warning signs.
Dr. Cathy Sila/UH Case Medical Center: "Someone who gets a headache and it won't go away... and it gets worse and worse... that can be an emergency." Paying attention to those symptoms -- getting good prenatal care -- and controlling blood pressure -- are key to a healthy pregnancy. Although the number of pregnancy-related strokes has risen -- it's still quite rare -- occurring in about 7 in every 10-thousand women.
-NewsAnchorMom Jen