Pregnant women in UK told to watch for heart disease symptoms

Condition is leading cause of death in UK in months before and weeks after childbirth, says audit led by medical royal colleges

Pregnant women are being told to look out for the symptoms of heart disease, which is now the leading cause of death in the months before and weeks after childbirth.

Two in every 100,000 women who gave birth between 2009 and 2014 died as a result of heart disease in the UK - nearly a quarter of all maternal deaths in the period, according to an audit led by the medical royal colleges.