Most of us don’t think of pregnancy, labor and birth as having anything to do with our heart health. Isn’t heart disease something to worry about closer to retirement age?

In pregnancy, if you’ve had diabetes (gestational diabetes) or high blood pressure (either as pre-eclampsia or pregnancy-induced hypertension) tell your healthcare providers in the years and decades post-pregnancy. Even though these conditions generally go away post-birth, they’re indicators that you’re more at risk to develop heart disease later in life, according to the latest research and new guidelines from the American Heart Association.

Understanding the links to heart disease

About 50% of women who have had gestational diabetes go on to develop type 2 diabetes later in life, say experts at the CDC. Diabetes greatly increases your risk for heart attacks and strokes.

Even if you had high blood pressure during pregnancy that returned to normal in the early weeks post-birth, you’re still 4 times as likely to develop diabetes later in life and almost 12 times more likely to develop high blood pressure that requires drug treatment later in life as compared to women who didn’t have high blood pressure in pregnancy.

Know your heart disease risks

Having these conditions in pregnancy doesn’t cause heart disease later in life. But it does show that, during pregnancy, your body responded to the increased demands of growing a baby by changing how it handles blood sugar or blood pressure in a way that these conditions developed. Likewise, the stresses of aging, being overweight, eating poorly or not getting enough physical activity may also cause your body to respond by not keeping your blood sugar in a normal range or by causing your blood pressure to rise.

Act now to prevent heart disease

So if you’ve had these conditions in pregnancy, what can you do now? Help your body by maintaining a healthy weight, eating a low-fat, high-fiber diet rich in fruits and vegetables, getting regular physical activity, quitting smoking, and only drinking alcohol in moderation.

Just following even 3 of these healthy behaviors dramatically reduces your heart attack risks. Maintaining a healthy weight and getting regular physical activity can substantially reduce your risks for developing diabetes.

Breastfeed that Baby!

If you have gestational diabetes, it’s even more important to breastfeed your baby. Nursing reduces your chances of still having diabetes at 3 to 4 months postpartum. Research shows that breastfed babies also have a decreased risk of developing diabetes later in life.

Check your Blood Sugar

Remember to also have your blood sugar checked within the first 3 months postpartum if you have gestational diabetes to make sure it has returned to normal. Then, if it’s normal, have it checked every 1 to 3 years for the rest of your life, says the American Diabetes Association, to make sure you don’t develop diabetes.