Pregnancy and stroke
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The chance that a woman would have a stroke while she is pregnant is very small, but a study finds it's changing. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Elena Kuklina looked at hospitalizations between 1994 and 2007: "The rate of stroke is rising in pregnant women and in women who have just given birth." (7 seconds) Kuklina says the rate went up by about 50 percent in all pregnancy-related strokes, to about 3,000 a year by 2007. Kuklina says people can reduce their risk of stroke by not smoking; eating a low-fat, low-sodium, high-fiber diet; being physically active - and controlling weight, even before pregnancy. The study was in the journal Stroke.