Approximately 50% of pregnant women in the United States are overweight or obese. It was 25% forty years ago.
These women face high risk pregnancies with the likelihood of developing pre-eclampsia, hypertension, diabetes, blood clots and complications from a C-section.
Health News reports that these problems can be significantly reduced if bariatric surgery is performed before conception.
A new study was conducted at the School of Medicine at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. Researchers analyzed the medical records of women of childbearing age who have had this surgery to lose weight before and after childbirth.
Study authors reported: "Women who delivered after surgery had a 75 percent lower odds of a diagnosis of a hypertensive disorder in pregnancy than women who had a delivery before surgery. There was also a 61 percent reduction in the risk of chronic hypertension and 74 percent decrease in gestational diabetes."
The doctors point out that the more overweight a woman is, the less weight she should gain during her pregnancy.