Monitoring is essential, especially later in pregnancy, researchers suggest
THURSDAY, Aug. 25, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Pregnant women who’ve had bariatric surgery may have increased odds for premature delivery, according to a research letter published in the Aug. 25 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Olof Stephansson, M.D., Ph.D., of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and colleagues assessed 1,941 births to women who had undergone bariatric surgery. The investigators found that 8.4 percent were preterm (before 37 weeks’ gestation). That compared with 6.8 percent among 6,574 women who had not undergone bariatric surgery.
The researchers found that the risk of moderately preterm birth — between 32 and 37 weeks’ gestation — was higher after bariatric surgery: 7.3 percent, versus 5.7 percent among mothers who hadn’t had bariatric surgery. However, no significant association was seen between bariatric surgery and very preterm birth (before 32 weeks).
“Women and their doctors should be aware of this risk increase, and women with previous bariatric surgery should be carefully monitored during pregnancy,” Stephansson told HealthDay.
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