Obesity May Increase Risks of Still Birth and Infant Deaths
by Tracy Whitney

A recent study shows women who are obese before pregnancy have a high risk of still births and of their new born child dying right after birth.

According to the findings published in the British journal of Gynecology a Danish study on around 24000 Danish women found that the women who were obese before becoming pregnant had a high chance say
twice the risk of still birth and the baby dying within a month after birth as compared to the normal weight women

For all women the rate of the still birth and the death of the child soon after birth are very uncommon irrespective of their child birth. But the figures compare with a stillbirth rate of 4 per 1,000 births
among normal-weight women, and a newborn death rate of less than 3 for every 1,000 births.

Women who were overweight but not obese have a higher risk of neo natal deaths of their children as compared to the women with normal weight. This can be explained with the facts that overweight and
obese women have a higher risk for high blood pressure and diabetes. This may be one of the reasons behind the still births or neo natality of the children.

Overall, the investigators found, no single cause of stillbirth or newborn death explained the higher rates among obese women. Compared with their normal-weight and overweight counterparts, obese women had
a higher rate of stillbirths classified as "unexplained," and problems with the placenta --which transfers oxygen and nutrients from the mother's blood to the fetus --were more common.

Exactly why obesity may raise the risk of stillbirth and early infant death is not clear, but the Danish researchers point out that obesity is known to affect the hormonal system and the metabolism of
blood fats. High cholesterol, they note, may affect certain substances in the body that control blood clotting and blood vessel dilation, and thereby impair blood flow to the placenta.

It is still not clear that what is the reason behind the high risk of still birth and early infant death but this is true according to the researchers that obesity is known to affect the hormonal system and
the metabolism of the blood fats. They concluded that the high level of cholesterol in the body may be one of the reasons to affect certain substances in the body that may control the blood clotting and blood vessel dilation reducing or impairing the flow of blood to the placenta and hence causing death of the child even before he is born.

While the ultimate goal is to prevent obesity in the first place, the researchers add that fetal and newborn deaths could potentially be reduced by referring more obese women to obstetricians who specialize
in high-risk pregnancies.