Weight problems make multiple miscarriages much more likely ─Study

*Health experts say reproductive issues are more common in women who are overweight, underweight, or obese, and are at an increased risk of having consecutive miscarriages

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

A new study by researchers from the University of Southampton explored the risks associated with consecutive miscarriages in women.

The research findings noted weight is an important factor when it comes to this reproductive issue.

The researchers discovered that women who are either underweight or overweight have a higher risk of having consecutive miscarriages, says agency report.

Researcher Ying Cheong said: “Our findings suggest that having an abnormal BMI exacerbates a woman’s risk of suffering from repeated miscarriages, and so clinicians really need to focus on helping women manage this risk factor.”

In finding out how weight can impact pregnancies, the researchers analysed over a dozen earlier studies that examined how women’s lifestyles impacted their reproductive health and the risk of having recurrent miscarriages.

The team assessed factors such as caffeine intake, alcohol consumption, weight, and Body Mass Index (BMI) scores to determine what was most likely to contribute to multiple miscarriages.

Their findings revealed that women’s weight played a large role in their reproductive health; women that were either underweight, overweight, or obese were at an increased risk of having consecutive miscarriages.

Dr. Bonnie Ng, one of the researchers, stated: “Our study included sixteen studies and showed that being underweight or overweight significantly increases the risk of two consecutive pregnancy losses.

“For those with BMI greater than 25 and 30, their risk of suffering a further miscarriage increases by 20% and 70%, respectively.”

On the need for consumers to follow a healthy lifestyle despite that caffeine and alcohol are associated with pregnancy complications, the researchers did not find any link between these habits and consecutive miscarriages in this study.

Researcher Dr. George Cherian noted: “While our study did not find any associations between recurrent pregnancy loss and lifestyle parameters such as smoking, alcohol, and caffeine intake, further large-scale studies are required to clarify this.”

Going forward, the researchers hope that more work is done to ensure that women are following healthy habits throughout the entire pregnancy process.