Is Weight Loss Surgery Between Pregnancies Beneficial?

New research examines the link between weight-loss surgery and health outcomes in pregnancy.

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Obesity is a growing health issue worldwide. In addition to commonly known outcomes such as heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers, obesity is associated with an increased risk of low fertility, miscarriage, gestational diabetes, and restricted fetal growth.

Bariatric surgery, also referred to as weight loss surgery, is a common procedure used in conjunction with a healthy diet and lifestyle to treat obesity. Since obesity is associated with many negative pregnancy outcomes, recent research has been looking into the effects of bariatric surgery done before and between pregnancies. An Australian study published in the journal BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Amp; Gynaecology examined the relationship between weight loss surgery between first and second pregnancies and negative pregnancy outcomes.

The data was collected using New South Wales hospital records for all women between the ages of 15 and 45 years between 2002 and 2014. The study population consisted of 326 women who had bariatric surgery between their first and second pregnancy, and they were compared with 461,917 women who did not have bariatric surgery between their first and second pregnancy.

The women in the bariatric surgery group had increased risk of pregnancy hypertension, gestational diabetes, and preterm birth in their first pregnancy. However, there was a decreased risk of all three of these conditions in the second pregnancy in the bariatric surgery group.

The results of this study suggest that bariatric surgery between first and second pregnancies could decrease the risk of pregnancy hypertension, gestational diabetes, and preterm births. The fact that women in the bariatric surgery group had increased risk of pregnancy complications in their first pregnancy was likely due to the fact that they were obese. More research is needed to determine the effects of bariatric surgery on reducing negative pregnancy outcomes.

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