Mother-of-two Jo Dean had no clue complications during her pregnancies put her at greater risk of heart disease.
The Sydney marketing professional, like thousands of other mothers, experienced pre-eclampsia when pregnant with both her sons, now aged 12 and 10.
She was told she would be 'fine' once the babies were delivered and her blood pressure returned to normal healthy levels.
And she was fine until early last year.
"I was riding my bike to work as I always did and I started to feel chest pains as I started to go up a hill that wasn't very difficult normally; this went on for a few days and then a couple of weeks and it wasn't getting any better," Ms Dean said.
Tests showed the "fit and healthy" cycling enthusiast had a 90 per cent blockage of her main artery and in 2017 she underwent robotic heart surgery.
Ms Dean, who is currently undergoing cardiac rehabilitation, says looking back, she would not have been so quick to brush off the chest pains as muscular or anxiety had she known she was vulnerable to heart disease.
Up to 30,000 women suffer from hypertensive pregnancy disorders, such as pre-eclampsia, in Australia each year and new research shows these conditions can increase their risk of heart disease by two to four times compared with other mothers.
"These conditions are having an effect on our hearts that are different to men," the Heart Foundation's National Spokesperson on Women's Heart Health, Ms Julie Anne Mitchell says.
The Heart Foundation is once again raising awareness about heart disease in women - the number one killer of Australian women - through its Making the Invisible Visible campaign.
In Australia, the disease claims the lives of 22 women every day - killing almost three times as many women as breast cancer.
Ms Mitchell says it's vital that women who experience either pre-eclampsia or gestational diabetes during pregnancy maintain good heart health.
This includes eating a good diet, being physically active and active monitoring of blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Both Ms Mitchell and Ms Dean encourage all women to listen to their bodies and get a heart health check if concerned about unusual symptoms.
"What we know about heart disease and heart attack in women is that the signs can be very subtle, very different; no two heart attacks are the same," Ms Mitchell said.
"If a person is breathless and they can't account for why they are breathless, then see the doctor - and seek a second opinion if they don't get a satisfactory answer," she said.
