Overweight women risk miscarriage and future health problems

Obese woman

Editor - Researchers from Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in London several years ago found overweight women are twice as likely to have a miscarriage.  This has serious implications for women since approximately half are overweight.

The study examined 318 women undergoing IVF and learned almost half of these women were overweight or obese.   In making the determination that overweight women are more at risk for miscarriage, the research took into account age, medical history and other health factors.

The study found these women have higher levels of insulin in their blood which may alter certain physical factors during the pregnancy, such as the lining of the uterus.


The overweight mothers-to-be are also observed to more likely to suffer complications such as high blood pressure and diabetes; they may need a Caesarean section, and they are at greater risk of losing blood while giving birth. Their children are more likely to be stillborn or die in the first weeks or months of life and to suffer birth defects such as heart problems.

The March of Dimes echoes the problems further, in that overweight mothers can create complications for the baby.  This may increase certain complications not just during birth but later in life, such as diabetes.  In addition birth defects are more likely, as reflected both in the research some years ago and contemporary remarks by those who work with special children.

Then there are the biases from the doctors, as the New York Times details.  36 percent of women of childbearing age are overweight.  Being obese makes it more difficult to conceive.  And at the same time doctors, as well as other people, tend to sometimes believe that being overweight is a personal failure.  This means folks are less inclined to think that a pregnant woman will follow professional advice well.

In any case, weight gain during pregnancy is one problem and being overweight consistently and putting oneself and one's baby at risk is another.

The latter is the best reason for women to stay trim, to have a healthy body and a healthy baby too.