Weight loss surgery aids pregnancy

Women who get pregnant after weight-loss surgery tend to be healthier and less likely to deliver a baby born with complications compared to obese women. Use of bariatric surgery has increased dramatically during the past 10 years, particularly among women of reproductive age. Bariatric surgery changes the digestive system's structure and reduces the volume of food that can be eaten and digested. The most common form is gastric bypass, which makes the stomach smaller and permits food to bypass part of the small intestine. Although losing weight naturally is recommended, weight-loss surgery does reduce the risks of pregnancy-related problems such as gestational diabetes and hypertension that can harm the mother and the fetus. To estimate bariatric surgery rates among women aged between 18 and 45 years and to assess the published literature on pregnancy outcomes and fertility after surgery, researchers from America analysed the outcomes of 75 studies published in the recent past. It was found that the risks of premature delivery, having a low birth weight baby, or delivering an exceedingly large-bodied baby were reduced for women who had bariatric surgery compared to obese women who did not undergo any such surgery. Further, in some cases, pregnancy-related risks after surgery were comparable to those for normal-weight women.The above findings indicate that an obese woman who has weight-loss, or bariatric surgery also may increase her chances of getting pregnant in the first place by normalising her menstrual cycles and hormone levels. The researchers suggested that it would be best for women to wait for a year after the surgery to get pregnant to let their bodies adjust. The above findings are a ray of hope for overweight women who are not morbidly obese but are having difficulty getting pregnant. These women might qualify for bariatric surgery if other weight-loss efforts fail, but improving fertility ought not be the main reason to have the surgery, the researchers added.

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