Miscarriage: low weight before pregnancy increases the risk

Women who have a low body weight before pregnancy have an increased 72% to a miscarriage in the first trimester risk, according to a study published on the website of the "International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology."
Although we now know a number of risk factors for miscarriage, such as maternal age, previous miscarriage and infertility, the causes of the majority of them are not fully understood . Many risk factors assumed as alcohol consumption, smoking and caffeine intake, remain controversial or unconfirmed.

In their study, researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine interviewed 603 women aged 18-55 years whose last pregnancy ended in a miscarriage in the first trimester, and 6116 women whose pregnancies went well.

The results confirmed the involvement of certain risk factors, including maternal age and alcohol consumption. They also show that women underweight before pregnancy have an increased 72% to a miscarriage in the first trimester risk, but that the early decision-vitamin supplements and specifically folic acid and of iron reduces this risk by half.

The daily consumption of fruits and vegetables also reduces the risk of miscarriage, like that of chocolate.

In addition, the researchers found that the risk was 60% higher in women who had changed partners after a first pregnancy, and among those who had undergone an abortion, and 41% of those suffering from disorders of fertility. All methods of medically assisted reproduction were associated with an increased risk, but in larger proportions for pregnancies resulting from intrauterine insemination or artificial insemination.

Finally, women who took more than a year to become pregnant were exposed to two times higher risk of miscarriage.