The World Health Organization is developing new recommendations to improve care for pregnant and postpartum women living with noncommunicable diseases. These conditions include diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and other long-term health problems that may exist before pregnancy or develop during it.
Noncommunicable diseases are becoming an increasingly important cause of poor health among women of reproductive age. They are also contributing more significantly to illness and death during pregnancy and childbirth, especially in low- and middle-income countries where most maternal deaths occur and health systems often face resource limitations.
Global evidence shows that the causes of maternal deaths are shifting, with indirect causes now accounting for about 23% of maternal deaths worldwide. Many of these indirect causes are linked to noncommunicable diseases, making them the second leading contributor to maternal deaths after haemorrhage.
NCDs during pregnancy can affect both the woman and the baby. In the short term, they are linked to complications such as pre-eclampsia, preterm birth, abnormal fetal growth, higher caesarean section rates, and newborn complications. Obesity and high blood pressure can also increase the risk of gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders, macrosomia, and neonatal intensive care admission.
The effects of NCDs can continue long after pregnancy. Women who experience these conditions during pregnancy may face higher risks of chronic disease later in life, especially cardiovascular disease. Their children may also be more likely to develop obesity and other noncommunicable diseases as they grow older.
In 2025, WHO released its first set of guidelines focused on managing sickle cell anaemia and diabetes in pregnancy. However, major challenges remain in translating these recommendations into practical, equitable care, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where specialist services such as maternal–fetal medicine and endocrinology may be limited.
For many women in low- and middle-income countries, antenatal care is the first major point of contact with the health system. WHO notes that this creates an important opportunity to identify and manage noncommunicable diseases, but NCD care is still often overlooked within maternal health services in both low-resource and high-income settings.
To address these gaps, WHO is holding a virtual expert convening on NCD care integration during pregnancy on 30 June 2026. The meeting will focus on making WHO guideline-derived tools practical, implementable, and responsive to real health-system conditions.
The expert group will also provide guidance on how to disseminate and implement new and upcoming clinical guidelines on maternal and perinatal health and noncommunicable diseases. The aim is to integrate these recommendations into existing WHO tools and strengthen continuity of care across pregnancy, postpartum care, and the wider life course.
WHO is inviting the public to review the experts and stakeholders involved in the convening and provide feedback if any member is believed to have a significant conflict of interest related to the group’s terms of reference. The meeting itself is by invitation only, and feedback should be submitted in a constructive and cordial manner to the designated WHO email address.
The initiative reflects WHO’s wider effort to ensure that pregnant and postpartum women with noncommunicable diseases receive better, more integrated, and more equitable care. By strengthening guidance, implementation tools, and health-system readiness, WHO aims to reduce preventable complications and improve outcomes for mothers and babies.
