Many younger women are having weight loss surgery and later want to have children. A new study looks at whether the procedure could affect a future pregnancy and what could done to prevent potential problems.
In the United States 1 in 5 women are obese at the time of conception, which can increase the risk of complications for both mothers and infants. That’s one reason why younger women might turn to bariatric or weight loss surgery.
Dr. Brodie Parent of the University of Washington Medical Center led a team of researchers that studied the birth certificates and hospital discharge data of more than 10,000 mothers and infants from 1980 to 2013.
They looked at 2 groups of women, one that had weight loss surgery before pregnancy and another, that didn’t.
Researchers wanted to see if babies born to women who had the procedure were at higher risk for prematurity, low birth weight, and intensive care admission.
Dr. Parent says they did find that these infants were more likely to be premature, to be admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, to have a lower birth weight, and to have a lower APGAR score.
The APGAR score is a combined measure of an infant’s activity and vital signs, 5 minutes after birth.
“The way to reduce that risk is perhaps by waiting 2 to 3 years after they’ve had the operation. If they give birth before that 2 to 3 year interval, there’s a higher risk of their infant requiring an ICU admission, or their infant being low weight, or premature.”
Dr. Brodie Parent says bariatric or weight loss surgery has many potential benefits, but he recommends waiting as long as possible before conception, in order to reduce risks for the mothers and their infants.
