Highlights:
Embargoed until 4 a.m. CT / 5 a.m. ET, Monday, October 26, 2026
DALLAS, Oct. 26, 2026 — Today, the American Heart Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine released a landmark publication that redefines heart health in girls and women. The organizations together outline four distinct “Female Life Stages” offering women and healthcare professionals a chance to have heart health conversations from puberty through menopause and beyond.
Three manuscripts published today in the American Heart Association’s flagship journal, Circulation, are the first coordinated, multi-society framework to prevent, detect and manage cardiovascular disease among girls and women. The publications outline a path to connect care across the clinical specialties that see women throughout their lives.
“Women experience their healthcare across clinical specialties, but it often is fragmented or disconnected,” said Sadiya S. Khan, M.D., M.Sc., FAHA, chair of the collaborative writing group and Magerstadt Professor of Cardiovascular Epidemiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “Specifically, these reports connect the dots for clinicians, for patients and across health domains so that care is holistic and begins in adolescence, recognizing that women’s heart health is uniquely shaped by biological transitions not experienced by men – periods, pregnancy, perimenopause and menopause.”
According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease, which includes heart disease and stroke, is the leading cause of death in women, claiming more than 400,000 lives in the U.S. each year - more than breast cancer, lung cancer and chronic lung disease combined. Yet only about 4 in 10 (41%) women recognize it as their greatest health threat.
“Women make up more than half the population, and their heart health must be a part of everyday care across medicine.” said Mariell Jessup, M.D., FAHA, chief science and medical officer of the American Heart Association. “These publications give clinicians and health systems a shared foundation for recognizing risk throughout a woman’s life.”
Why a new approach is needed
Progress has stalled in preventing cardiovascular deaths among women over the past two decades. To get ahead of risk, the new approach to women’s cardiovascular health views it as a lifelong process.
A 2026 American Heart Association scientific statement that forecasted women’s health and risk factors concluded that if trends continue through 2050, the proportion of U.S. women ages 20 and older living with high blood pressure will increase from approximately 49% in 2020 to 59% in 2050.
At the same time, maternal mortality has increased and cardiovascular disease is now the leading cause of medical-related deaths during pregnancy. The American Heart Association notes that cardiovascular conditions account for more than one-third of maternal mortality in the U.S.
"These projections underscore the urgency of making cardiovascular health a priority at every stage of a woman’s life,” said Khan. “This new approach gives clinicians across specialties shared guidance to recognize risk earlier, personalize prevention, and act before a heart attack, stroke or heart failure event."
A first-of-its-kind Female Life Stage framework
The Female Life Stage framework is based on female biology and offers windows of opportunity to prevent heart disease and stroke. Each life stage is defined by a change in hormones that is uniquely experienced by girls and women, with pregnancy identified as an event affecting cardiovascular health that may occur at any or multiple life stages:
Within each life stage, the framework takes a holistic approach to women’s heart health by considering cardiovascular, hormonal and emotional health together, Khan said. “For clinicians, this approach underscores that heart health cannot be understood by looking at the heart alone. We need to recognize that women’s heart health is deeply interconnected with hormonal and emotional health.”
The framework also allows for earlier recognition of risk, earlier prevention, and better continuity of care beginning in childhood.
“Heart health begins long before adulthood,” said Amanda Marma Perak, M.D., M.Sc., FAHA, vice-chair of the collaborative writing group and a pediatric cardiologist at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. “As pediatric clinicians, we have the opportunity to help every girl start strong and to ensure that what we learn about her health follows her as she grows.”
Heart, hormonal and psychosocial health connections
“Pregnancy and the postpartum period are important windows into cardiovascular health throughout the life course. An adverse pregnancy outcome can unmask increased cardiovascular risk and that information should guide care well beyond pregnancy,” said William A. Grobman, M.D., MBA, vice-chair of the writing group and professor of obstetrics & gynecology at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. “This multi-society guidance gives clinicians who provide obstetric, gynecologic, and cardiovascular care a shared framework for recognizing and acting on that risk.” Grobman is also a former president of the Society for Maternal‑Fetal Medicine and associate dean of clinical research at Brown.
Translating evidence into coordinated interdisciplinary care
The societies call for a national infrastructure of Comprehensive Centers of Excellence for Women's Cardiovascular Care, built on four pillars: interdisciplinary clinical care, professional education and training, research and community engagement. Existing tools and therapies offer opportunities to improve cardiovascular health now, while research is needed to continue to address gaps in evidence specific to women by prioritizing inclusion of women in research, expansion of funding of women’s health, and translation of evidence into action.
“Over the last several decades, research has led to substantive advances in the understanding of female-specific risk of cardiovascular disease,” Khan said. “Today, cardiovascular risk can be identified earlier in women with 10- and 30-year sex-specific risk estimation using the American Heart Association PREVENT equations . The goal is to assess health comprehensively and longitudinally across life stages, identify earlier opportunities for prevention, and close implementation gaps for women.”
“All girls and women deserve more healthy years to live their fullest lives,” Khan said. “Advancing women’s health is a responsibility we all share. This investment improves not only women’s health, but also the health of their families and their communities.”
Editor's Notes
Joint guidance on the management of women’s cardiovascular disease across the life course is made up of three papers. Links will be live when the manuscripts publish online:
The papers were all prepared by the volunteer writing group on behalf of the American Heart Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.
American Heart Association scientific statements and advisories promote greater awareness about cardiovascular diseases and stroke issues and help facilitate informed health care decisions. Scientific statements outline what is currently known about a topic and what areas need additional research. While scientific statements inform the development of guidelines, they do not make treatment recommendations. American Heart Association guidelines provide the Association’s official clinical practice recommendations.
Co-authors, disclosures and funding sources are listed in the manuscripts.
The Association receives more than 85% of its revenue from sources other than corporations. These sources include contributions from individuals, foundations and estates, as well as investment earnings and revenue from the sale of our educational materials. Corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations to the Association. The Association has strict policies to prevent any donations from influencing its science content and policy positions. Overall financial information is available here .
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About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. Dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities, the organization has been a leading source of health information for more than one hundred years. Supported by more than 35 million volunteers globally, we fund groundbreaking research, advocate for the public’s health, and provide critical resources to save and improve lives affected by cardiovascular disease and stroke. By driving breakthroughs and implementing proven solutions in science, policy, and care, we work tirelessly to advance health and transform lives every day. Connect with us on heart.org , Facebook , X or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.
Circulation