By DR. RICHARD BELIVEAU
Obesity considerably increases the risk of developing many chronic illnesses and is on the fast track to becoming one of the largest public health concerns.
A recent study has suggested that, along with its close ties to the development of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers, maternal obesity significantly increases the risk of congenital defects amongst children.
With a dramatic increase in obesity cases in the last few years, more and more women of child-bearing age are becoming overweight. This is unfortunate, considering that obese women are at a higher risk of developing various health problems related to pregnancy, particularly gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia (arterial hypertension caused by a loss of protein in the urine), as well as coagulation problems. Obese women are also more likely to require a c-section, and therefore are at risk for any complications related to this type of surgery.
Many studies have showed that in addition to the risks posed by obesity to pregnant women, children born to these women are also at a higher risk of being born prematurely, being born overweight, as well as still-births.
A study recently conducted by a British team of researchers and that has been published in the American Medical Association Journal also found that maternal obesity increases the risk of congenital anomalies. By analyz ing the results obtained by 40 different international studies, the researchers found that the incidence of various anomalies was higher for babies born to obese mothers than those with mothers who were of a normal weight during their pregnancies.
The researchers also found that the women who were obese at the start of their pregnancy have twice the risk of having babies with major neurological conditions like spina-bifida. The risk of congenital heart disease, the most common congenital anomaly in Canada, also rose 30% in these cases. Increased incidences of cleft lips, cleft palates as well as limb malformations were also observed.
Even though congenital anomalies are fairly rare, hitting about 120 children out of every 10,000 births, these results are nonetheless troubling when you take into account the increasing rate of obesity. For example, one third of American women over 15 are obese, with a BMI over 30. This will result in nothing but negative effects on the risks of pregnancy-related complications, as much for the mother as for the child.
This isn't to say that a woman should be talked out of having children just because she is obese, as medical technology allows women to be properly monitored and treated for hypertension or gestational diabetes.
Because of this, many obese women can give birth, safely, to healthy babies without encountering major complications.
That being said, a study published last May by the American Medical Institute recommends that women should try to hit a normal weight before becoming pregnant.
