pregnancy outcome – Healthy Living & Life Style Blog

According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, more than 150,000 infants are born in the county. Pregnancy outcomes in the county in regard to such factors as infant mortality, low birth weight births, and preterm births are better than the national average; however, differences in outcomes exist among the different racial/ethnic groups in Los Angeles and among people living in different parts of the county. According to a new study, one of the major factors involved in pregnancy outcome is a healthy diet during pregnancy. Researchers from the Queen Mary University of London in the United Kingdom published their findings online on May 17 in the British Medical Journal.

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Lead author Dr. Shakila Thangaratinam and colleagues noted that in the UK, more than half the women of reproductive age are overweight or obese; furthermore, throughout Europe and the US, up to 40% of women gain more than the recommended weight in pregnancy. They pointed out that excessive weight gain during pregnancy is associated with a number of serious health problems.

The investigators examined the effects of diet, exercise, or a combination of the two on weight gain during pregnancy; they also reviewed adverse effects on the mother or infant following delivery. Their study comprised the review of 44 randomized, placebo-controlled trials involving more than 7,000 women. The authors also rated the design and quality of the studies to reduce bias from lower caliber reports.

The authors noted that weight management interventions in pregnancy proved to be effective in reducing maternal weight gain. In addition, they found dietary interventions to be more effective than exercise programs. Dietary intervention resulted in the an average weight gain reduction of 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) compared to 0.7 kilogram (1.54 pounds) for exercise and 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) for a combination of the two. Furthermore, diet also provided the most benefit in preventing pregnancy complications such as pre-eclampsia, diabetes, high blood pressure, and premature birth.

The authors cautioned, however, that the overall quality of the studies in regard to supportive evidence was low to very low for these important outcomes. More importantly, they wrote, the results revealed that dietary interventions are safe and do not adversely affect the infant’s weight. The authors concluded that dietary and lifestyle interventions in pregnancy improve outcomes for both mother and baby; however, they acknowledged the lack of data on risk factors such as age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

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Inasmuch as these women have a high level of interest in becoming pregnant, one would think that they would be more knowledgeable than the average women in pregnancy preparation. However, a recent study by the Ottawa Fertility Centre (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) found that women entering an infertility program had gaps in knowledge in this area. The researchers evaluated 400 women who were enrolling in an infertility program. They found that patients were well informed about health optimization, folic acid consumption, infectious disease exposure, medication use, partner abuse, smoking, and recreational drug use. However, they were not well informed about the risks of daily alcohol consumption, advanced maternal age, exercise, cat litter exposure, and consumption of fish and certain other foods. In addition, they were uncertain about the importance of rubella immunization and family history. Women who had never had a child were less knowledgeable about the significance of rubella immunization, exercise, recreational drug use, cat litter exposure, and fish consumption. Women who had a higher level of education had more knowledge about the effects of the mother’s age, exercise, alcohol exposure, and smoking on pregnancy. The authors concluded that there were gaps in knowledge, even in the highly motivated population of infertile women who are planning to be pregnant. They added that the results of this survey suggest that women need and want their physicians to educate them about optimal pre-pregnancy lifestyle.

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A wealth of information is available on the Internet in regard to pregnancy preparation; furthermore, many excellent books are available on the topic. If you are planning for pregnancy, it is important to be well-informed. Information from well-meaning friends and relatives may be factual or erroneous. Internet information also can be inaccurate. If information is not from a 100% reliable source, it is prudent to reconfirm the information from another source and/or a healthcare professional.