This episode provides an overview of planning to care for a woman with cardiac disease during her pregnancy, birth and postpartum course. The principles reviewed here are applicable to all types of cardiac disease and include which key issues need to be addressed and planned for. We also introduce the concept of early warning signs and risk assessment of the patient.The experts at Clinical Concepts in Obstetrics pool their decades of experience caring for critically ill pregnant women to discuss the challenges encountered in caring for these vulnerable women.Dr Stephanie Martin is the Medical Director for Clinical Concepts in Obstetrics and a Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist with expertise in critical care obstetrics.Suzanne McMurtry Baird, DNP, RN is the Nursing Director for  Clinical Concepts in Obstetrics with many years of experience caring for critically ill pregnant women.Julie Arafeh, RN, MS is the Simulation Director for Clinical Concepts in Obstetrics and a leading expert in simulation.