Excess weight is a source of complications during pregnancy and childbirth regardless of the mother-to-be’s country of origin, according to a new study.
- Overweight and obesity increase the risk of complications during pregnancy or childbirth regardless of the mother’s country of origin.
- Maternal overweight is a very important risk factor for gestational diabetes.
- For researchers, it is important to promote a healthy weight among all future mothers.
For several decades, health professionals have monitored the weight of pregnant women, because obesity and overweight are risk factors for complications during pregnancies. Teams from Linköping University and the Karolinska Institute, who were seeking to understand why immigrant women experience more serious health problems when expecting a child, wondered whether weight problems could be an explanation.
They ultimately discovered that body weight is an important health factor during pregnancy regardless of the mother-to-be’s country of birth.
Their work was featured in the October edition of the journal Lancet Public Health.
Pregnancy and weight: a risk factor for all mothers
For this study, researchers reviewed the records of nearly 2 million pregnancies that took place between 2000 and 2020. They studied the occurrence of eight disorders that can affect the mother or the baby during pregnancy, or during and after pregnancy. childbirth such as gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, infant mortality or even prematurity. They then assessed the relationship between the mother’s BMI at the first prenatal visit and complications experienced based on the region of the world in which she was born.
Result of the analyses: overweight (BMI greater than 25) is a major factor in complications during pregnancy and childbirth – both among Swedish and immigrant mothers. The team also noticed that the importance of body weight during pregnancy differs depending on the complications. For example, a high BMI contributes more to gestational diabetes than other disorders.
On the other hand, underweight (BMI less than 18.5), for its part, would not contribute significantly to the complications studied, according to the data collected.
Pregnancy: measures to promote healthy weight
So, the study authors conclude that taking steps to promote a healthy weight could help all women, no matter where in the world they were born.
“A healthy weight is good for everyone. The earlier in life the better, because once obesity is established it is difficult to treat”explains Pontus Henriksson of Linköping University in a press release.
The first author of the study, Maryam Shirvanifar, adds: “for example, we concluded that around half of all cases of gestational diabetes could be prevented. This applies to both women born in Sweden and women born abroad.”
However, several factors that could affect mothers’ health – such as the quality of healthcare treatment, the language barrier, the stress linked to migration or even differences in health-related behaviors – could not be taken into account. in this study. Scientists therefore believe that further research is necessary to more precisely assess the risk factors that can affect pregnancy.
