Pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia and gestational diabetes have recently been associated with a higher risk of developing heart disease later in life. But a new study has found obesity before or during pregnancy is the actual root cause of future cardiovascular disease. “We demonstrate, for the first time, that adverse pregnancy outcomes are primarily indicators — and not the root cause — of future heart health,” said corresponding author Dr. Sadiya Khan. “This means that pregnancy just reveals the risk for heart disease that is already there.” This large, multi-center and diverse study is one of the only studies to follow its participants — about half of whom were overweight or had obesity — from the beginning of their first pregnancy through several years postpartum.