UK studies reveal that babies belonging to obese women have a higher risk of death until the age of 1. Obesity poses a risk for babies even at birth or the first weeks of life. Research was conducted on 41,000 pregnancies (single births) at five maternities across the northern part of England between 2003 and 2005.
Not only there is a risk for obese mothers to deliver babies that can die at birth but also a risk that involves fetal death, where the babies could die in the womb. Women with a BMI of 30 or higher risk delivering babies with health problems. The normal BMI for pregnant woman is somewhere between 18 and 24.
The study shows that there were about eight cases of infant deaths registered for 1,000 births, all among obese women. Obese mothers are twice as likely to lose their baby, compared to average weight mothers.
Judith Rankin, the author of the study published in Human Reproduction, a journal that published this particular study, said about obesity:
There are likely to be a number of reasons why obesity is associated with fetal and infant death and we don’t yet know the full story. For example, there is an increased risk of high blood pressure or diabetes developing during pregnancy. Understanding the risk associated with obesity is helpful for health-care professionals caring for pregnant women, so that additional monitoring can be provided as necessary.
According to Dr. Ruth Bell, lecturer at the University of Newcastle, British women “will deliver a healthy live baby, regardless of their weight at the start of pregnancy.”
The authors of the study featured in the Human Reproduction journal came to the conclusion that:
Given the rising prevalence of obesity in the population of pregnant women, the rates of miscarriage, stillbirth and infant mortality can be anticipated to increase.
Although obesity may pose a great risk to infants, being underweight represents another challenge for mothers. Having too little fatty tissue may prove detrimental for the baby’s health as it could affect his or her healing capabilities.
