Main Category:
Pregnancy News
Article Date: 29 Sep 2006 - 9:00am (PDT)
|
email this article |
printer friendly |
view or write opinions |
Women who do not manage to lose weight after their
first pregnancy are at a higher risk of having
problems during their second pregnancy and delivery,
say doctors from the Harvard School of Public
Health, USA, and the Karolinska Institute,
Stockholm, Sweden.
You can read about this study in The Lancet.
The risk is not only there for women who are
overweight between pregnancies, but also for those
who put on weight during their first pregnancy, did
not lose it afterwards, even though they were still
not medically overweight when they became pregnancy
for a second time.
The increased risk is for:
-- Pre-eclampsia
-- Gestational hypertension
-- Gestational diabetes
-- Cesarean delivery
-- Stillbirth
-- Babies large for their gestational age
Team member, Dr. Eduardo Villamor, said that the
evidence strengthens the argument for causality. He
added that the evidence is pretty compelling.
The researchers said the message is clear. If you
are of normal weight, try to get back to it between
pregnancies. They found that even an increase of two
BMI (Body Mass Index) units just before the second
pregnancy starts raises the risks.
The study looked at data on 151,025 women who had
given birth to a single child during the period
1992-2001.
There was a close correlation between how much a
woman gained in weight before her second pregnancy
and the level of risk. Just an increase one or two
BMI units would raise the risk of developing
gestational diabetes and/or gestational hypertension
by 20% - 40%. A woman who gained three BMI units had
a 63% greater chance of giving birth to a stillborn
baby.
"Interpregnancy weight change and risk of
adverse pregnancy outcomes: a population-based
study"
Dr Eduardo Villamor MD and Sven Cnattingius MD
The Lancet 2006; 368:1164-1170
DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69473-7
Click here to view summary online
Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
