Pregnant women with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa are at much higher risk of premature birth, delivering underweight babies and other complications.
Dr Ido Feferkorn from McGill University, Montreal, Canada, presented the research at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. Anorexia nervosa is a serious psychiatric disorder which results in malnutrition from undereating. Although many affected women cease menstruating, some can become pregnant naturally or with the help of fertility treatment.
'Many fertility specialists are faced with the dilemma of treating women who are undernourished. Or, by refusing to do so, possibly preventing these patients the joy of parenthood,' said Dr Feferkorn. 'Clinics should be aware of the magnitude of adverse outcomes related to pregnancy among those patients with anorexia who do conceive.'
The study used data from US hospital records for over nine million births between 2004-2014. Women with a diagnosis of anorexia were five times more likely to have underweight babies, compared to women without the condition. They were also three times as likely to give birth prematurely or to experience placental abruption – a potentially serious complication where the placenta separates from the wall of the uterus which can cause a lack of oxygen and nutrients reaching the fetus and internal bleeding for the mother.
'This study is a timely reminder of the importance of the preconception health of the mother and father for the lifelong health of the child as poor outcomes in pregnancy have long term implications for the baby,' Adam Balen, professor of reproductive medicine at the University of Leeds told BioNews. 'Stabilising conditions in the mother before pregnancy and having adequate nutrients levels are both known to provide the optimal conditions for development.'
Grace Dugdale, a reproductive biologist and nutrition scientist from Leeds, told BioNews: 'Additional resources need to be allocated to the treatment of eating disorders. If we really believe that each baby counts, we need to start to take preconception care much more seriously.'
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