They Say: Miscarriage Means More Risk

Amy Kuras — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:08:00 GMT

For women who’ve experienced the crushing blow of a miscarriage, one of the small comforts is the conventional wisdom that a single pregnancy loss doesn’t bode ill for future pregnancies.
A University of Aberdeen (Scotland) study of more than 32,000 expectant mothers showed an increased risk of many pregnancy complications among women who has suffered even one miscarriage.

They were 3.3 times more likely to have preeclampsia, twice as likely to have an induced labor, and almost six times more likely to need intervention like the use of forceps at birth.

Continuing the litany of suckage, they were 1.7 times more likely to show symptoms of a miscarriage but not actually lose the pregnancy, 1.3 more times likely to have bleeding after 24 weeks in the next pregnancy, and also had increased risk of a premature baby and of having a child with a low birth weight.

It should be noted that the risk of all of these things overall is pretty low, so an increased risk at that level is a concern but doesn’t mean your pregnancy is doomed to difficulty if you’re among the 20 percent of women who have suffered a miscarriage.

What’s interesting about this is that most research has focused on recurrent preganancy loss, defined as three or more miscarriages in a row. Most doctors won’t even begin to look at underlying causes for miscarriage until that’s happened. That’s an awful lot of heartbreak to go through before getting some answers, so hopefully this study will lead to women getting additional support in their pregnancies sooner rather than later.

Eat Chocolate, Protect Your Baby

Amy Kuras — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:33:00 GMT

Finally, some good news about pregnancy and what we might choose to eat or drink during those nine loooonnnngggg months.

Researchers at Yale University studied more than 2200 pregnant women between January 1996 and September 2000, and found those who reported eating at least five servings of chocolate a week were 40 percent less likely to develop pre-eclampsia than those who consumed less than one serving a week.

Preeclampsia is rare but serious, sending the mother's blood pressure soaring and often leading to premature deliveries and babies at serious risk of dying. It's scary stuff and the cause is unclear.

Researchers believe the chemical theobromine , which occurs naturally in chocolate, could be responsible for the protective effect. They tested the levels of theobromine in the umbilical-cord blood of babies born to mothers in the study. It found a correlation between women who consumed the most chocolate, therefore those whose babies had the highest concentration of theobromine, and a significantly reduced incidence of preeclampsia.

And this is my favorite pregnancy-eating quote ever from any expert, ever: Lead researcher Dr Elizabeth W. Triche said, "Because of the importance of preeclampsia as a major complication of pregnancy, a detailed assessment of chocolate consumption is warranted."

I'm anecdotal proof: Two pregnancies, a preexisting love for chocolate and carte blanche to indulge (what? It made the baby move), and no preeclampsia either time – low-ish blood pressure and overdue babies, actually. Almost makes me want to get pregnant again so I can justify my sweet tooth.

Strollerderby : preeclampsia

They Say: Miscarriage Means More Risk

Eat Chocolate, Protect Your Baby