A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Southampton explored the risks associated with consecutive miscarriages.
According to their findings, weight is an important factor when it comes to this reproductive issue. The team found that women who are either underweight or overweight have a higher risk of having consecutive miscarriages.
“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,” said researcher Ying Cheong.
How weight can impact pregnancy
The researchers analyzed over a dozen earlier studies that looked at how women’s lifestyles impacted their reproductive health and the risk of having recurrent miscarriages. The team assessed factors like 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.
“Our study included sixteen studies and showed that being underweight or overweight significantly increases the risk of two consecutive pregnancy losses,” said researcher Dr. Bonnie Ng. “For those with BMI greater than 25 and 30, their risk of suffering a further miscarriage increases by 20% and 70%, respectively.”
Following a healthy lifestyle
Though caffeine and alcohol are associated with pregnancy complications, the researchers didn’t find any link between these habits and consecutive miscarriages in this study.
“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,” said researcher Dr. George Cherian.
Moving forward, the researchers hope that more work is done to ensure that women are following healthy habits throughout the entire pregnancy process.