Obesity causing women to die during pregnancy and childbirth

[AB Asks]

The new stats will come as a shock as more than ever people are obese. Between 2003 and 2005 half of the women who died during or after pregnancy were overweight. Although the number of maternal deaths is low the trends cause medical professionals concern. A small amount of extra weight does not cause a massive amount risk during pregnancy but obesity does. What do you think? Do you think pregnant women or those trying to conceive are running high risks by being obese? Or is this just causing people worry?

[Octavius]

I have just used all my digits to work this out, but does this also mean that half the women to die during pregnancy were not obese?

[Ice.Maiden]

Er.....quite!

[Goodsoulette]

If your BMI is over 36 your primary carer should be a consultant. Of course it's dangerous, normally nature steps in and stops your periods if you get too fat. If you are too big and get through the delivery safely good luck running around after your kids is all I can say.

Statistics on this kind of subject are rubbish anyway. How many women actually die in childbirth in this country? My mums delivered 1000s and 1000s of babies and never had a woman die. I only every heard her mentioning it happen a few times in 20 years.

[squarebear]

Statistics like this are pretty meaningless.

Most of the women who died in childbirth had two legs but that doesn't mean anything either.

[Pippa68]

I read recently that the mortality rate during pregnancy, birth and postnatal care had risen due to hospital bugs and infections.

Not much to do with obesity.

Goodie is right ~ I have known of several obese women (my sister in law included) who not only found it very difficult to conceive, they had to have c sections due to too much fat around the uterus stopping necessary contractions.

[Octavius]

It does squarebear. It would be a lot worse if they were legless.

This would no doubt be due to binge drinking at the point of conception. Outrageous.

[Goodsoulette]

Crikey Pippa. It's not worth is it? Go on a flipping diet and then have a baby. You put on enough weight as it when you are normal sized and get pregnant. I kind of forgot that I couldnt blame being pregnant for eating all the choccies in a 5 mile radius, after I had my second baby.

I would have thought the biggest factors would be hidden heart and respiratory problems.

[Pippa68]

Very true Goodie.

Although heart and respiratory problems are probably more common in obese people I would imagine that these factors can also be present in the thinnest woman..

My sis in law was always moaning that she never had a pregnancy bump. We were expecting babies at the same time and my bump was massive. She looked no different, bless her.

[cazzz1975]

also most women are leaving it late to have their kids and we have the binge drinking culture as well as an obesity crisis, its a wonder women are still able to have kids if they do all that!!

[Goodsoulette]

LOL, with my first I went from having a 25 inch waist to a 44 inch waist, although I had soo much water retention around my tummy by the end you could write your name with your finger on my belly and you could still see it minutes later.
If you have a BMI of over 35 you are 7 times more likely to develop pre eclampsia too. Oddly though women considered underweight have less risk than normal weight women of having any complications whatsoever. The only minutely elevated risk was that of having a low weight baby.

[Pippa68]

Strangely enough my mother had complications such as pre-eclampsia and premature births with her pregnancies.

She was never fat let alone obese ~ I have seen more fat on a cold chip!

I had no serious complications in pregnancy, although my first birth was horrendous. Probably because I was fat..lol