Postpartum bradycardia?

Hi all,

It's been a while since I've checked in.

I recently gave birth to a baby boy. He's healthy and we could not be happier!

i have complete heartblock (100% ventricular pacing, <5% atrial pacing). Was diagnosa year and a half ago and had a Medtronic Pacemaker installed. I have no discernible underlying conditions that led to the heartblock.

One week postpartum, I'm noticing that my resting heart rate is consistently around 50 BPM - the "floor" for my Pacemaker settings. Before pregnancy, it was in the 60's - low 70's, and during pregnancy it was in the 80's - 90s.

This lower rate that I'm now experiencing feels disconcerting. Googled around a bit and came up with the term "postpartum bradycardia." Does anyone else have experience with this? Should I be very very concerned and be contacting my EP, or is this just more of the perfectly normal hormonal rollercoaster that is pregnancy, with or without a pacemaker?

Thank you!

 

3 Comments

Thank you, Robin! :)

by Kcambridge - 2017-12-18 22:21:06

I'm contacting the EP tomorrow. Good to hear a little about your experience, too. I just want to stay healthy for my new little son!

Postpartum low heart rate

by momo51811 - 2019-02-14 21:18:12

Hi,

I am currently experiencing a low heart rate after the birth of my first baby. I’m not use to feeling my ICD pace me so often. It is set to pace me at 40 so I am dropping into the 30-40 range which gives me anxiety. Is postpartum bradycardia a thing? Do you mind sharing what your EP said? Just curious if I should be contacting mine and if your symptoms improved?

Thanks,

Morgan

Re: Postpartum low heart rate

by Kcambridge - 2019-02-15 08:05:06

Hi Morgan,

Ultimately, my EP wasn’t very helpful, but my symptoms eventually went away on their own.

My EP had me run a device check using my at-home monitor and confirmed that my device was working normally. She then instructed me to contact my Ob/Gyn regarding my symptoms who also didn’t have any suggestions. The consensus seemed to be that as long as my pacemaker was doing its job and I had no other symptoms, there was no reason to be worried.

in time, after my son stopped needing to breastfeed so often at night and I was getting more rest/feeling less exhausted, and after I’d recovered a bit more from the c section and was taking a lot less ibuprofen (no idea if ibuprofen had any affect; probably coincidence), I felt better. 

That’s just me though. My diagnosis is likely different from yours — complete heart block with no apparent underlying cause, and I’m 100% paced ordinarily. I don’t have an ICD. If you’re feeling lousy/weird, it may be just exhaustion like it seemed to be for me, but I’d definitely contact your EP or doctor just to be on the safe side.

Hope this helps. Good luck and hang in there!

Kate

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