ANI |
Updated: 12 July 2022 18:19 IS
Washington [US]July 12 (ANI): According to a new study, pregnant women with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa are five times more likely to give birth to underweight babies.
The 38th annual meeting of ESHRE results also shows a significantly increased risk (298%) of premature birth and a more than doubled probability (341%) of placental abruption. This is in contrast to mothers who do not have anorexia, which is often a persistent mental illness.
The details of the analysis will be described by Ido Feferkorn, managing director of McGill University in Montreal, Canada. This serious psychiatric illness, characterized by hunger and malnutrition, was based on data from more than 9 million women, both with and without anorexia.
Compared to the results for the offspring of women with a healthy weight, dr. Peppercorn highlighted the findings on the prevalence of especially small-for-gestational-age neonates as “shockingly larger.”
Although anorexic women can still become pregnant naturally or with the help of ovulation-stimulating fertility medications, eating disorders can affect menstruation. According to Dr Feferkorn, the study’s findings sent a serious health warning about how these patients should be managed both during and after pregnancy.
Many fertility doctors are struggling with the challenge of treating malnourished women, he noted. Or, by refusing to do so, you can deprive these patients of the satisfaction of becoming parents. Clinics should be aware of the severity of adverse pregnancy outcomes among anorexic patients who do become pregnant.
Data were derived from a substantial, publicly accessible database of inpatient hospital treatment records in the United States. Both pregnancies in which a woman was diagnosed with anorexia during pregnancy (n = 214) and pregnancies in which she was not (n = 9,096,574) were included.
Overall, the findings indicated that anorexic women experienced significant adverse pregnancy outcomes.
In addition, they showed that these people were more likely to smoke, have thyroid disease, be Caucasians, have better incomes and have other psychiatric conditions in addition to their eating problems.
The rates for other conditions that can affect pregnant women did not differ. These included chorioamnionitis, placenta previa, gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders and postpartum haemorrhage. Compared to women without anorexia, there was no greater requirement for a caesarean section.
The authors were unable to evaluate the degree of anorexia or treatment compliance, which is one of the study’s weaknesses. According to Dr. Feferkorn, one common interpretation of the data is that women should be evaluated for anorexia before receiving fertility treatment. (ANI)
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