By ERIC NAGOURNEY

omen who give birth to premature or low-weight infants should take it as a warning to keep an eye on their own health, researchers say.

These and other complications during pregnancy appear to be signs that a woman is at a higher risk for vascular diseases and other conditions later in life, they report in a recent issue of The British Medical Journal.

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The authors, Dr. Naveed Sattar and Dr. Ian A. Greer of the Glasgow Royal Infirmary University in Scotland, based their report on a review of the scientific literature.

They found that a variety of problems during pregnancy could spell trouble later for the mother.

Women, for example, who experience gestational diabetes (as many as 5 percent of pregnant women) appear 30 percent more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes later in life.

The report suggested that these women be monitored for the disease and counseled on changes they could make to reduce their risks.

Women whose babies are born at very low weights, among other complications, have a higher death rate from cardiovascular disease. They should be screened for risk factors in their late 30's, the report said.

Women who experience pre-eclampsia, a complication in as many as 4 percent of pregnancies, or whose babies are born before 37 weeks, appear to be at higher risk for coronary heart disease.

"It is likely that mothers who get the pregnancy problems outlined in the article have subtle risk factors which are, as it were, magnified or unveiled by the metabolic stress of pregnancy," Dr. Sattar said in an e-mail message.

The good news, he said, is that "pregnancy is a window of opportunity to pick up women at risk."

The report also suggested that reducing women's risk factors before pregnancy might reduce the possibility of complications during pregnancy.