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Superfertility is more prevalent in obese women with recurrent early pregnancy miscarriage
Author(s) -
Bhandari HM,
Tan BK,
Quenby S
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
bjog: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.157
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1471-0528
pISSN - 1470-0328
DOI - 10.1111/1471-0528.13806
Subject(s) - miscarriage , obstetrics , recurrent miscarriage , pregnancy , medicine , biology , genetics
Objective To investigate the effects of obesity on superfertility. Design Retrospective observational study. Setting A tertiary referral implantation clinic. Population Four hundred and fourteen women attending a tertiary implantation clinic with a history of recurrent miscarriage ( RMC ), over a 4‐year period. Methods Pattern of pregnancy loss and time to pregnancy intervals for each pregnancy were collected by medical staff from women with RMC . The women were categorised into normal, overweight and obese according to their body mass index ( BMI ). Kaplan–Meier curves were constructed estimating the cumulative probability of a spontaneous pregnancy over time. The pregnancy loss patterns were correlated with BMI and data were compared between the categories using the Kruskal–Wallis test. Main outcome measures Pregnancy loss pattern and time to pregnancy intervals. Results Overall, 23.2, 51.4 and 64.2% of women conceived within first 1, 3 and 6 months, respectively. Obese women had cumulative pregnancy rates of 65.2 and 80% by three and 6 months, respectively, which was more than the cumulative pregnancy rates for women with normal BMI (49.2 and 65.8%). Comparison of survival curves indicated a significant difference in time to conceive for obese when compared with normal and overweight women (* P = 0.01), suggesting a higher prevalence of superfertility in obese women with RMC . Conclusions Our findings suggest that obese women may have a greater efficacy to achieve pregnancy, but with an increased risk of miscarriage, which may suggest the possible metabolic effects of obesity on endometrium. Tweetable abstract A significantly higher prevalence of superfertility may be found in obese women with recurrent miscarriage.