16 Nov After Bariatric Surgery: Risk of Preterm Babies
MedicalResearch.com: Interview with:
Olof Stephansson MD, PhD
Associate professor, senior consultant in obstetrics and gynaecologyDepartment of Medicine, Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Karolinska InstitutetDepartment of Women’s and Children’s Health, Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Answer: Women with a history of bariatric surgery have an increased risk of preterm delivery, a doubled risk for small-for-gestational-age births and a reduction in large-for-gestational-age births. Also when considering maternal weight, education, age, parity and year of birth. There was no increased for stillbirth or neonatal mortality.
MedicalResearch.com: Were any of the findings unexpected?
Answer: The association with preterm birth was stronger than we anticipated.
MedicalResearch.com: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Answer: Because these women have increased risk of preterm birth and small-for-gestational-age (sga) birth these women need extra attention during antenatal care. Women with a history of bariatric surgery are to be considered as high risk pregnancies. They need proper advise including recommendation for supplementation and they should be followed with ultrasound for fetal growth.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Answer: To learn more about the influence of weight reduction after surgery and its influence on pregnancy outcome. We also need to learn more about supplementation and whether it is due diet or the surgery that these women have increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcome.
Citation:
Last Updated on November 10, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD