Severely Obese Moms Negatively Impact Fetuses
Pre-Pregnancy Stomach Surgery Improves Child's Long Term Health
Sep 27, 2009
A report in a late 2009 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism has provided quantitative and scientific evidence that women who are pregnant and severely obese tend to give birth to babies with a greater potential of becoming dangerously overweight in their lifetime. The study also reveals that these children tend to use insulin less effectively, and are at a heightened risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke.
In plain English, unchecked obesity in mothers-to-be creates an unhealthy fetal environment, one which in turn can lead to increased health risks for their children.
But the cycle of obesity need not continue, and a child's weight destiny need not be pre-determined before birth, if certain weight loss measures are taken by women before they become pregnant. These measures may include stomach surgery.
Stomach Surgery Benefits
According to research on the subject, conducted jointly through the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center and the University of Laval in Quebec City, clinically obese women who undergo stomach surgery before becoming pregnant deliver babies with a profoundly improved prognosis for good health. Conversely, women who are dangerously and morbidly overweight while pregnant, and who do not undergo the procedure, give birth to children who are above normal birth weights and/or become severely obese through the course of their lives.
Women who opt to treat and curtail excessive weight gain with drastic bypass surgery, such as the biliopancreatic diversion bariatric procedure, lose anywhere from one-third to two-thirds of their pre-operative body weight. They go from being severely obese to being somewhat overweight, and are healthier on average.
Though this surgery is more extreme than other bypass weight loss surgeries, biliopancreatic diversion stomach surgery is highly efficient in bringing about major reduction in weight. Since 2005, more than 170,000 people have undergone the surgery in the United States alone, many with positive results.
Lose Weight Before Pregnancy
Physicians and researchers have found a causal link between exposure to obesity in utero and long range ill health in children. This has led to physicians issuing recommendations to severely overweight women to lose weight before becoming pregnant for the sake of the fetus.
Doctors involved in the research study*, which evaluated and monitored 111 children born from women who had conceived before having weight loss surgery and some who had not, found that a number of substances in the amniotic fluid of obese women, including high levels of blood sugar, could adversely affect the developing fetus.
The results showed specific, negative effects that continued over the years in children who were born to obese mothers. These ranged from high total-cholesterol-to-HDL ratio, and lower levels of appetite regulating hormones, to problems associated with excessive weight gain.
Research Conclusions
Though many may disagree with radical stomach bypass surgery on the grounds of risk factors, the conclusions from the research study essentially point to one thing. Women who want to give birth to healthier babies should achieve a healthy weight before becoming pregnant.
Whether the weight is lost through surgery and consequent behavior modification, or through diet and fitness regimens, the positive results for the long term health benefit to children born to mothers at a healthy weight, remains the same.
*For more detailed information on this study, refer to the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
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